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PETROLEUM: 



HISTORY OF THE OIL REGION 



VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 



ITS RESOURCES, MODE OF DEVELOPMENT, AND VALUE: 

EMBBACING- A DISCUSSION OF ANCIENT OIL OPERATIONS; 

WITH A MAP, AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF OIL 

SCENES AND BORING IMPLEMENTS. 



4 



BY / 

REV. S. J. M. EATON, 



PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PRANKUN, PA* 



m The rock poured me out rivers of ouV 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. P. SKELLY & CO., 

732 CHESTNUT STREET. 
1866. 




^ 



f* 






?^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
J. P. SKELLY & CO., 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court lor the Eastern District of Penn- 
sylvania. 



Stereotyped and Printed by 
Alfred Martien 




PREFACE. 



This work aims at nothing more than a mere popular 
description of the oil region, of the early history of petro- 
leum operations, of the manner of boring oil wells, bring- 
ing the oil to the surface, and preparing it for use. As 
this region is attracting a large share of public attention 
it has been thought proper to devote a few pages to its 
ancient history ; by way of illustrating its changes, a 
brief chapter is also added,** bringing down its history 
to the period when modern oil operations commenced. 

As there is much curiosity abroad as to the manner of 
boring deep wells in the rock, and pumping from great 
depths, these processes are detailed with great minute- 
ness and particularity. 

The chapter on the origin of petroleum, although 
claiming little originality, is presented with much diffi- 
dence. From the circumstances of the case, we are not 
likely soon to pass beyond mere theory in the matter, 
and, with the light we yet have, that presented seems 

(m) 



IV PREFACE. 

the most plausible and consistent with the facts exhibited 
in boring and pumping. 

It was manifestly injudicious to attempt to give the 
number and production of each well in given localities, 
for what would be true to-day would be unreliable next 
week, as the development in new wells is constantly 
changing the features of particular localities. Conse- 
quently a general view is given, in order to arrive at 
general results. 

The design of the work is set forth on its title page — a 
history of the oil region of Venango county, Pennsyl- 
vania. It is not by this designed to ignore the existence 
of petroleum in neighboring counties, in this or in other 
States ; this is admitted, and it is also anticipated that 
other regions still may and will develop large resources 
of oil ; the design is to discuss the matter in its bearings 
on this region, where we find the evidences of its earliest 
development, and where, as yet, its largest resources have 
been brought to light. 

Grateful acknowledgments are due to gentlemen who 
have aided in collecting materials for this work, and 
thanks are hereby given. 

The Oil scenes in this volume are from photographs 
by A. D. Deming, an enterprising artist of Oil City, Pa. 

Franklin, Pa., November, 1865. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. — The Ancient History of Venango 
County. 

Interest in this region — Mysterious footprints — Queen Ya- 
ga-wa-ne-a — Six Nations — Lookout — Indian god — Strug- 
gle between English and French — English claim — French 
claim — Fort Venango — Washington's visit — English fort — ■ 
First missionary — Ancient names — Frenchman's story — 
Cannon 11—23 

CHAPTER II. — The Modern History of Venango 
County. 

Franklin — Character of county — Vicinity of Franklin — 
Early settlers — Hardships — First court — Jail — Furnaces — 
Boiling mill — Canal — First steamboat — Great frost — Chart 
of distances 24 — 37 

CHAPTER III. — Ancient History of Petroleum. 

Tower of Babel — Vale of Siddim — Babylon — Herodotus — 
Cart-wright — Josephus — Layard — Egypt — Embalming — 
Papyrus — Burmah — Italy — Trinidad — Humboldt — Tar 

Lake — Texas — Important truths 38 — 43 

(v) 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. — Antiquity of the Oil Business in 
Venango County. 

Ancient traces — Oil pits — Mysterious origin — Attributed to 
the French — Trees in oil pits — Supposed Indian origin — 
No traditions — Apocryphal story — Cornplanter — Great an- 
tiquity — Mound builders 45 — 55 

CHAPTER V.— Modern Way of Collecting Oil. 

Early value — McClintock farm — Modern oil pits — Blanket 
process — Uses — First shipment — Yankee enterprise — Gen- 
eral Hays — Salt well — Well in Franklin — Strong hint- 
Gradual advance 55 — 61 

CHAPTER VI. — First Important Discovery. 

Idea slowly developed — Use in saw mills — Venango physi- 
cian — Bold theory — Failure to profit — Coal oil — Specula- 
tions — George H. Bissell — Eveleth — Colonel Drake — Per- 
severance under difficulties — The goal reached — Dreams of 
wealth— Excitement — Professor Silliman's report... 62 — 72 

CHAPTER VII.— Mode of Procedure. 

Prices of Land — Leases — Monopolies of leases — Large com- 
panies — Small capital — Individual liability — Abandoned 
wells — Serious losses — Effect of flowing wells — Patient 
waiting rewarded — Character of lands — High prices — 
Wealthy farmers — Millionaires 73 — 83 

CHAPTER VIII.— Preliminary to Boring. 

Choice of site — Pit Hole — Surface indications — Ravines — 
Neighboring wells — Black spirits and white — Hazel rod — 
Low lands first sought — Value of low lands — High lands 
now sought — Base of hills — Region to be explored — Diffi- 
culties to be expected 84 — 96 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER IX.— Mode of Boring. 

The first borers — Derrick — Digging — Conductor — Driving 
pipe — Boulders — Cable — Bull-wheel — Rods— Boring imple- 
ments — Centre-bit — Reamer — Auger-stem — Jars — Temper- 
screw — Iron clamp— Power — Spring-pole — Horse-power — 
Water-power — Steam-power — Portable engines — Mode of 
operating — Sand-pump — Sharpening tools — Surface water 
• — Water veins — Gas — Oil veins — Mud veins — Different 
strata — Discouragements — Breaking Drill — Detaching Drill 
— New inventions — Curiosity — Oil or China — Cost of sink- 
ing a well — Z bit — Diamond drill 97 — 125 

CHAPTER X.— Tubing and Pumping. 

Testing a well — Vacuum found — Copper and iron tubing — 
Seed-bag— Difficulties of adj ustm en t— Pump-barr el— Sucker- 
rods — Exhausting the water — Closing of veins — Remedies 
— Steam — Torpedo — Case of conscience — Continuous pump- 
ing — Air-pump — Muddy oil — Tanks — Steam as heat — Gas 
as fuel 126—140 

CHAPTER XL— Flowing Wells. 

New feature — Anxiety for a flowing well — Effects on the 
trade — Philosophy of flowing wells — Illustration — Expla- 
nation — First flowing well — Sherman well — Loss of oil — ■ 
Well on fire — Melancholy scenes — What flowing wells have 
done — General good — Often subside — May be pumped — 
Danger of closing them — Intermittent wells — The Sunday 
well 141—159 

CHAPTER XII.— Means of Transportation. 

River transportation — Steamboats — Tugs — Flatboats — Bulks 
— Ladder-floats — Pond freshets — Fleet of oil boats — Perils of 
the trip — Atlantic and Great Western Railroad — Franklin 
Branch — Teams to Franklin — Wagon load — Car load — 
Prices — Magnitude of the business — Oil Creek Railroad to 
Corry — Philadelphia and Erie Railroad — Franklin and 
Jamestown — Allegheny Valley Railroad — New routes in 
prospect — Direction of shipments — Centralization. 

159—172 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. — Franklin, French Creek, and 
Sugar Creek. 

Former operations — Number of wells — Evans's well — Gen- 
eral depth — A panic in oil — Character of oil — French creek 
— Patchel's run — Mill creek — Deer creek — Sugar creek — 
Great promise — Cooperstown 173 — 182 



CHAPTER XIV.— Oil Creek. 

First in the field — Early prestige — Natural features — Pro- 
ductiveness — Change from flowing to pumping — Blood 
farm — Story farm — Geological features — Deepest well — 
Comparative success — Elevated boring site — Cherry run — 
Cherry Tree run — Titusville — Banking — Oil City — Latonia 
— Growing population — Value of lands — Indian tradition 
—The fountain still flowing 183—199 



CHAPTER XV. — Allegheny River Territory. 

Extent — Natural features — Two Mile run — Horse creek — • 
Walnut Bend — Pit Hole creek — Wondrous developments 
— Kegister of strata — Hemlock — Tionesta — Success of lower 
Allegheny — Wells comparatively shallow — Islands — Great 
promise — Big Sandy — East Sandy 200—209 



CHAPTER XVI.— Uses of Petroleum. 

Uses not developed — As an illuminator — Improvement in 
lamps — As a lubricator — As a medical agent — For exter- 
nal complaints — Asthma — Consumption — As fuel — Manu- 
facture of gas — Paraffine — Paints and varnishes — Import- 
ance of refining — Colors 210 — 222 



CONTENTS. IX 



CHAPTER XVII.— Refining. 

Esthetics of Petroleum — Early reports — Importance of the 
business — Number of refineries — Capital invested — Products 
of refining — Stills — Chemicals — Process of distillation — 
Deodorizing — Silliman's report — Properties 223 — 230 

CHAPTER XVIII.— Lubricators. 

Want of a lubricator — Heavy oil — Collected on the river- 
Purified by heat — The Hendrick lubricator — Its character- 
istics 231—235 

CHAPTER XIX.— Joint Stock Companies. 

Early companies — Joint stock company — How organized — 
Number of companies — Capital invested — Laws regulating 
them — Pennsylvania — New York — Principles and prac- 
tices — The true and the false — Status of stockholders — 
Caution to be'used — Demand for dividends 236 — 248 

CHAPTER XX.— Origin of Petroleum. 

Origin — When? — Where? — Testimony of the rocks — Not 
mere theory — Vegetable deposits — Heat — Analysis and 
synthesis — Different strata — Caverns — Veins only pierced 
— The source as yet unexplored 248 — 257 

CHAPTER XXI. — Permanence of the Supply. 

Will the supply be permanent — The ancient supply unex- 
hausted — General features of Providence — Tin — Indefi- 
nite capacity — Oil still forming — Oil deposits in few locali- 
ties — Wells will go dry — New wells will be opened — 
Supply of oil variable 258—268 

CHAPTER XXII.— Growth of the Oil Business. 

Small in the beginning — Rapid increase — Home consumption 
— Increase of exports — Statistics — Capital invested — Ex- 
ploration stimulated 269 — 275 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIII.— Present Aspect and Import- 
ance. 

Petroleum trade unparalleled— Flourishing condition— Import- 
ance to manufactures — Barrels — Railroads — Labor — Ad- 
vantage to Venango farmers — Influence of the whale fishery 
— Influence at home — The oil man — Influence abroad — 
National relief — Large tax returns— Future prospects — 
Flood of 1865 — Great devastation — Business reviving. 

276—292 

CHAPTER XXIV.— Concluding Thoughts. 293—295 
INDEX 296 



PETROLEUM. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANCIENT HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY. 

Sudden and unexpected changes are characteristic 
of the age in which we live. Progress and development 
seem remarkably animated and energetic during this 
latter half of the nineteenth century. The sands seem 
to run rapidly through the glass, as we approach the 
grand climacteric in the world's history. The Almighty 
God appears to be opening his great treasure house to 
provide for the grand and important changes, that in 
his wise' and inscrutable Providence, he is working 
among us here. 

Venango county, Pennsylvania, has suddenly attained 
to an interest, unsurpassed by any other region of the 
United States. From being one of the most unproduc- 
tive and obscure, it has become the first in interest, and 
wealth and influence among its sister counties, in all the 
broad range from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Some 
facts and brief notes, therefore, will be of interest in 

(ii) 



12 MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS. 

regard to its ancient history. The landmarks are 
becoming indistinct, and the light fading, that years ago, 
would have thrown a wondrous interest around this now 
popular region. There are many circumstances that 
lead to the belief that this portion of the valley of 
the Allegheny has been the scene of strange and won- 
derful incidents in years long gone by. There are foot- 
prints yet remaining of a strange and mysterious people, 
that dwelt there, and labored there, long before the 
advent of the Indian tribes. But a few imperfect foot- 
prints are all that remain. Their broad pathway is 
almost obliterated by the fast accumulating sands of 
time. Tradition is voiceless; history has made no 
record ; and we can but wish for the unwritten annals of 
the past. 

In regard to the possession of this region by the 
Indians, it is probable, from what feeble light we have, 
that at a very early day, about the close of the fifteenth 
century, the whole country extending along the extreme 
portions of the shore of Lake Erie, and for some distance 
southward, was in possession of a powerful tribe known 
as the Eries, and from which it is probable the 
lake itself takes its name. Tradition relates that this 
tribe was peacefully disposed, and at one time was ruled 
by a queen named Yagowannea ; who, like the queen of 
Palmyra, after ruling with dignity and justice, at length 
fell a victim to the jealousy and intolerance of the sur- 
rounding tribes. 

Schoolcraft relates that the Eries being pressed by 
their enemies, gradually moved towards the Ohio, or 
Allegheny river, where soon after their council fires 
were put out, and they ceased to be known as a tribe. 
The date of this extinction was 1653. 



SIX NATIONS. 13 

That terrible confederacy of the Indian tribes, known 
first as the Five, and afterwards as the " Six Nations," 
was formed and extended their conquests far and wide. 
From the Mohawk river, they extended their sway west- 
ward like the ocean tide, sweeping everything from 
their pathway until they reached the Mississippi, kindled 
their council fires throughout the whole northern portion 
of the Allegheny valley. The Eries were exterminated, 
in this path of conquest, as a nation, and their broken 
fragments absorbed by these " Romans of America," 

At the time when the Oil regions first became known 
to civilized men, the " Six Nations," or, as they were 
called by the French, " Iroquois," were in possession of 
the land. During the long wars, that continued for 
nearly a century between England and France, these 
people were generally on the side of England ; and 
during the troubles of the Revolution, their influence 
was as a general thing with the British. But they too, 
soon began to follow in the wake of the Eries. They 
are in the sear and yellow leaf. As civilization advanced, 
their strength passed away, and now, but a few scattered 
fragments remain, one of which holds a limited posses- 
sion in the northern outskirts of the oil region, on the 
upper Allegheny. 

The remains of antiquity that are still found in this 
portion of the Allegheny valley, satisfy us, that it was 
considered of no small importance in the history of the 
past. Franklin, the county seat of Venango, is sit- 
uated in a flexure of the Allegheny, and at the junction 
of French creek with that river. It is surrounded on 
all sides by bold, precipitous hills, rising to the height of 
some six hundred feet. On the highest crest of land, on 
the Northeastern side of the town, is a remarkable 
2 



14 LOOKOUT. — THE INDIAN GOD. 

ancient work, that seems evidently designed as a kind 
of "lookout" over the river and creek. From this 
point, there is an uninterrupted view of the river for 
several miles upward and downward, as well as of 
French creek, with all its sinuosities. This work has 
something the appearance of the modern " rifle pits." 
It is in the form of an inverted cone, about eight feet in 
diameter, at the top, and at the present time about six 
feet in depth; rudely walled up to the surface with 
rough masonry. It is situated at the precise point, most 
favorable to secure a view of the valley in which the 
town is situated, as well as of the creek and river above 
and below. It is said that two pits similar to this, are to 
be seen, one on the eastern side of the river, and the 
other on the southwestern side of the town; the three 
forming a triangle, and together commanding the ap- 
proaches to the town, in every possible direction. 
Whether these are the work of the French, during their 
terrible struggle to plant and retain their banner all 
over this country; or are due to the unhistorical race, 
some evidence of whose sojourn in this valley, will be 
recorded in a succeeding chapter, cannot now be ascer- 
tained. The more probable opinion, however, is that 
their date is anterior to that of the French possession. 

About six miles south of Franklin, and nine by the 
course of the river, is a rock, a noted landmark in 
Indian history. It has long been known to the present 
inhabitants as " The Indian god." It is on the eastern 
margin of the river, and during freshets is completely 
submerged. It is an immense boulder in a deflection of 
the river, standing at an inclination of about fifty de- 
grees to the horizon, and is about twenty- two feet in 
length by fourteen in breadth, with an inscription on its 



ENGLISH CLAIM. 15 

inclined face. As to this inscription and its interpreta- 
tion, we cannot do better than quote from Schoolcraft's 
work on the Indian Tribes. 

" The inscription itself appears distinctly to record, in 
symbols, the triumphs in hunting and war. The bent 
bow and arrow are twice distinctly repeated. The 
arrow by itself is repeated several times, which denotes 
a date before the introduction of fire-arms. The ani- 
mals captured, to which attention is directed by the 
Indian pictographist, are not diet, or common game, but 
objects of higher triumph. There are two large pan- 
thers, or cougars, variously depicted ; the lower one in 
the inscription denoting the influence, agreeably to pic- 
tographs heretofore published, of medical magic. The 
figure of a female denotes, without a doubt, a captive, 
various circles representing human heads denote deaths. 
One of the subordinate figures depicts, by his gorgets, a 
chief. The symbolic sign of the raised hand, drawn 
before a person represented with a bird's head, denotes, 
apparently, the name of an individual or tribe." 

At the foot of the large rock is a smaller one, con- 
taining a single figure. 

About the close of the fifteenth century, the struggle 
commenced between England and France, for the pos- 
session of the Allegheny and Mississippi valleys. Eng- 
land's claim was set forth in the following language : — 

" That all the lands, or countries, westward from the 
Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, between 48° and 34° 
of north latitude, were expressly included in the grant 
of King James the First, to divers of his subjects, so 
long since as the year 1606, and afterwards confirmed 
in 1620."* The original ground of this claim was, in 

^Colonial Kecords of Pennsylvania. 



16 FRENCH CLAIM. 

part, original settlement, but chiefly treaties of purchase 
from that wonderful confederacy, the "Six Nations," that 
was found in possession. The French based their claim 
upon original discovery by Marquette and La Salle, to- 
gether with their construction of their treaties of Rys- 
wick, Utrecht, and Aix la Chapelle. But this claim 
was based upon very insecure grounds, and seems rather 
prompted by ambition and lust of power. They had 
at this time possessions in Canada on the North, and at 
the mouth of the Mississippi on the South, and wished 
to unite these possessions and thus present a barrier to 
the rapidly advancing tide of power that was sweeping 
westward under the auspices of England. As early as 
the beginning of the eighteenth century, Bancroft tells 
us, that " not a fountain bubbled on the west of the 
Allegheny, but was claimed as being within the French 
empire. " 

In the summer of 1749, Gallisoniere, then Governor 
of Canada, sent Louis Celeron with a party to place 
leaden plates along the whole line, extending from Lake 
Erie to the mouth of the Mississippi, as evidences of the 
French claim to the territory.* One of these was found 
buried at Franklin, Pa., bearing the following inscrip- 
tion : — u In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV, King of 
France, M. Celeron, commandant of a detachment by 
Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, commander-in- 
chief of New France, to establish tranquillity in certain 
Indian villages of these cantons, has buried this plate 
at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this 20th July, 
near the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful river, as a 
monument of renewal of possession which we have 

^Western Annals. 



FORT VENANGO. 17 

taken of said river, and all its tributaries; and of all 
lands on both sides as far as the sources of said rivers ; 
inasmuch as the preceding kings of France have en- 
joyed it by their arms and by treaties; especially by 
those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix la Chapelle." 

By the Ohio, we are of course to understand the Alle- 
gheny, and by the Toradakoin, French creek. 

In pursuance of the determination to hold possession 
of this territory, the French proceeded to erect a chain 
of forts, extending from Presque Isle, or Erie, to the 
Ohio river. Fort Venango, one of this chain, was com- 
menced in 1753, and completed in April, 1754. We 
have an interesting account of the erection of this Fort 
in a deposition made by Stephen Coffin, before Col. 
Johnston of New York. Coffin had been a prisoner 
among the French, and accompanied them on this fort 
building expedition. He says that the detachment con- 
sisted of three hundred men, and left Canada in Jan- 
uary, 1753. After describing the landing at Erie and 
the erection of "Fort Le Presque Isle," at that place, he 
continues : — " As soon as the fort was finished, we 
marched southward, cutting a wagon road through a 
fine level country, twenty-one miles to the River aux 
Boeufs" (now French creek, at Waterford). "We fell 
to work cutting timber, boards, &c, for another fort, 
while Mr. Morang ordered Monsieur Bito, with fifty men, 
to a place called by the Indians Ga-na-ga-rah-ha-re (now 
Franklin) on the banks of Belle Riviere, (now Allegheny 
river) where the river Boeufs (now French creek,) 
empties into it. In the meantime Morang had ninety 
large boats or batteaux made to carry down the bag- 
gage, provisions, &c, to it. Monsieur Bito, on coming to 
said Indian place, was asked what he wanted or in- 
2* 



18 Washington's visit. 

tended. Upon answering, that it was the intention of 
their father, the Governor of Canada, to build a trading 
house, for their and all their brothers' convenience, he 
was told that the lands were theirs, and that they would 
not have them build upon it." 

Thus far Coffin's statement goes ; but it appears that 
the scruples of the Indians were overcome, and the fort 
known as Venango was commenced late in the year 
1753. 

In November of the same year, George Washington 
was commissioned by Governor Dinwiddie to proceed 
from Fort Pitt, up the Allegheny to Fort Venango and 
Le Boeufs, to make observations in regard to the French 
occupation, forts, number of men, and probable inten- 
tions. In pursuance of this mission, Mr. Washington, 
then in his twenty-second year, arrived at Venango on 
the 4th of December. The following extracts from his 
journal will give some idea of his movements. 

11 This is an old Indian town, situated at the mouth 
of French creek on the Ohio." 

11 We found the French colors hoisted at a house from 
which they had driven Mr. John Frazier, an English sub- 
ject." After obtaining an interview with three officers 
from the fort, and the wine, or more probably poor 
whisky, having made them social and communicative, 
the journal proceeds : — 

" They told me that it was their absolute design to 

take possession of the Ohio, and by G , they would 

do it ; for although they were sensible that the English 
could raise two men for their one, yet they knew their 
motions were too slow and dilatory to prevent any 
undertaking of theirs." 

Washington and his little party appear to have 



ENGLISH FORT. 19 

crossed in the vicinity of the upper bridge, and pro- 
ceeded to Fort Le Boeufs or "Waterford. 

We next find Fort Venango spoken of in 1759, in a 
letter from Colonel Mercer, English commander at Fort 
Pitt. Colonel Mercer had sent two Indian scouts up 
to Fort Venango, who reported that there was then 
at the fort seven hundred French, and one thousand 
Indians, which force was destined to attack Fort Pitt. 

In this year (1759) the French finally withdrew their 
forces to strengthen Fort Niagara, and untoward events 
causing them to abandon their efforts towards holding 
the country, they never afterwards undertook the pos- 
session of Fort Venango. This fort was situated on the 
bank of the Allegheny, about thirty rods below the 
present Allegheny bridge. A draught, said to be the 
original drawing by the French engineer, is still in 
the possession of Wm. Eeynolds of Meadville, Pa. 

There are the ruins of another fort near the Alle- 
gheny bridge, that the old settlers were in the habit of 
calling the English Fort. There appears to be consid- 
erable confusion of ideas, in regard to this fort. That it 
was in possession of the English after the country was 
abandoned by the French, is quite likely ; but the pro- 
babilities are very strong, that it, too, was built by the 
French, after the destruction of the first one. In 1763, 
while Fort Venango was in possession of the English \ 
garrison, a large party of Senecas, on pretence of friend- ' 
ship, gained admission, massacred the garrison, tortured 
Lieutenant Gordon, the commander, over a slow fire, and 
finally burned the fort. 

Opposite Fort Venango, and on the eastern side of the 
river, Henry Decourcy affirms on the authority of an old 
map preserved in Quebec, that Fort Michault was built 



20 FIRST MISSIONARY. 

about the same time as Venango. In 1757, Monsieur 
Chauvignerie, Jr., a French, prisoner, testified before a 
justice of the peace to the same effect : — " My father 
was a lieutenant of marines, and commandant of Fort 
Michault, built lately at Venango." Of such a fort, 
the oldest settlers can give no information, nor are there 
any traces of ruins that can be identified on that side 
of the river. It is possible, however, that this may be 
identical with what is now known as the English fort, 
erroneously placed on the Quebec map on the opposite 
side of the river. 

In the neighborhood of these forts, some very fine 
species of grape were found by the first settlers, and 
have been propagated to the present time. One of 
these varieties is known as the " Venango " grape. The 
cuttings were no doubt originally brought from La belle 
France. 

We next find a more peaceful mission organized to 
visit Venango county. It was in the fall of 1767. A 
Moravian missionary, the Rev. David Zeisberger, accom- 
panied by two Christian Indians as assistants, succeeded 
in penetrating the wilderness, and reaching a point on 
the Allegheny near the mouth of Tionesta creek, and 
about thirty miles above Franklin. This good brother 
appeared among the red men of the forest unarmed, 
plainly dressed, and simple in manners, with the one 
avowed object, that of doing them good. At first the 
missionary was regarded with suspicion, but gradually 
won his way into the favor of the people, until a chapel 
was built, corn planted, and the work commenced. . The 
place was called by the Indians " Goschgosking " or ac- 
cording to another authority " Goshgoshunk. " An In- 
dian prophet, named Wangomen, declaimed against the 



ANCIENT NAMES. 21 

new religion. Like Demetrius of old, when Paul 
preached against idolatry, he saw their craft was in 
danger, so that no small stir was excited. The prophet 
declared that the Great Spirit was angry at the innova- 
tion, and was blighting the corn and driving away the 
game, as a punishment for their infidelity. The place 
soon became too uncomfortable for the good brethren, 
when they sought a new location for their mission, about 
fifteen miles farther up the river, at a town called La- 
wunakhannak, probably in the neighborhood of Hicko- 
rytown. But the troubles that began at the former 
point followed them to the new location. The religious 
teachers and medicine men looked upon the strangers 
as their rivals, jealousies were fomented, until in the 
month of April, 1770, the heroic little band of mission- 
aries were obliged to break up their mission, and with 
sorrowful hearts launch their canoes and set out for a 
more propitious field. This mission appears to be the 
first effort to plant the gospel in what is now known as 
the oil region of Venango county. 

A word in regard to the names used in the ancient 
history of the county, is necessary in this place to 
avoid confusion. The Indians and French alike con- 
sidered what are now known as the Allegheny and 
Ohio as one and the same river. In fact the names sig- 
nify the same, in different dialects of the Indian country. 
Allegheny is from the Delaware language, and O-hee-o 
from the Seneca, both meaning beautiful water. Hence 
the French term " La Belle Riviere " or Beautiful river. 
In the earlier periods of the history of the country it 
was known as the Ohio. What is now known as French 
creek appears to have been known by the Indians as 
To-ra-da-koin. By the French it was first called Riviere 



22 frenchman's story. 

aux Boeufs, or Buffalo river, afterwards Venango river, 
a corruption probably of In-nan-ga-eh, in the Seneca 
language referring to a rude figure carved on a tree, 
when first discovered by this tribe. By George Wash- 
ington it was re-christened, at the time of his visit in 
1753, French creek, which name it still bears. The 
change conveys to us something of an idea of the prac- 
tical nature of Washington's mind, in rejecting the beau- 
tiful flowing Indian name for the common-place modern 
one. 

It is related by some of the old citizens, that about 
forty years since an old Frenchman made his appearance 
in Franklin, and put up at the public house of Mr. 
Eeno. He declared that he had been a French soldier 
at the time of the occupation of Fort Venango, and had 
in fact been one of its garrison. He seemed to be an 
old man, ard on that score there was nothing impro- 
bable in his story ; moreover there was an air of honesty 
in his appearance and conversation that challenged the 
confidence of the listener. He stated that Fort Ve- 
nango was hastily evacuated, and that being unable to 
remove all their valuables, from want of transportation, 
they threw them into a well that was in the middle 
of the fort. Among these valuables were some cannon, 
that were considered of much importance. Over all 
stones were thrown to conceal the deposits from the 
knowledge and possession of the Indians. The man 
proposed accompanying some of the citizens to examine 
the site of the lost treasure on the following day, but 
during the night he w T as taken ill, and, lingering some 
time, died without any investigation having been made. 
A successful search has never been made since that 
time. 



CANNON. * 23 

As a relic of tlie past, the history of a small cannon 
that was exhumed about thirty years ago, may not be 
without its interest. It had most probably belonged to 
what is known as the " English Fort," as it was discov- 
ered near its side. It was found by some boys, who 
were making a slight excavation in the bank, by whom it 
was quickly brought from its long sleep to the light of 
day. On examination, it proved to be an antique pat- 
tern of a four-pounder, without inscription or other 
mark that would have proved its nationality. It 
had however been spiked, and the trunions broken from 
it, in order to render it worthless before being buried up 
to enter upon its sleep of a century. The old veteran, 
however, soon fell into the hands of a practical gentle- 
man, who had the spike removed, and a band put 
around it containing new trunions and then mounted on 
a carriage ready for new duty. The after history of 
this gun was a tragic one. It was brought out for the 
purpose of celebrating the anniversary of the Nation's 
birth, and the patriotism of the gunners being brimful, 
it was charged to the very muzzle with sand-stone, and, 
as a consequence, blown to fragments. 



24 FIRST AMERICAN GARRISON. 



CHAPTER II. 

MODERN HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY. 

"We come down to the history of the county in its 
relation to the United States Government. In the 
spring of 1787, a company of United States soldiers 
arrived at what is now Franklin, from Fort Pitt, for the 
purpose of erecting a fort to protect the country in its 
early settlement. The site selected for this work was a 
somewhat novel one. Instead of choosing a point near 
the ruins of the old French fort, that would have com- 
manded both the Allegheny and French creek, they 
planted themselves upon the south bank of French 
creek about a quarter of a mile above its mouth, and 
just above the old French creek bridge. This work 
was in the form of a parallelogram, and including the 
outworks, enclosed a surface of about one hundred feet 
square. It was surrounded by high embankments of 
earth, outside of which a line of pickets of pine logs, 
was planted. These pickets were sixteen feet high. In 
this garrison, a force of about one hundred men was 
kept, until 1796, when a new fort was erected at the 
mouth of the creek. It was simply a strong wooden 
building a story and a half high, and perhaps thirty by 
thirty-six feet in size. It was surrounded by a picket 
of pine logs, but had no arrangement for the use of can- 
non. There was little fear now from the Indians, for 



FRANKLIN. 2d 

the treaty of General Wayne with these tribes had laid 
the foundation of a lasting peace. The fort was garri- 
soned by soldiers, however, until 1803, when they were 
withdrawn altogether. These forts were usually known, 
the first as Fort Franklin, and the latter as " the old 
garrison." They have fallen to decay now. Something 
of the dim tracery of the former may be seen, but the 
latter has vanished altogether, and its site is washed 
by the restless tide of French creek. 

In 1795, an act was passed by the Legislature to lay 
out a town at the mouth of French creek. This act 
was carried out by commissioners appointed for that 
purpose, General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, 
with what taste and judgment can be best determined by 
a reference to the map of the town. The name Frank- 
lin, was probably suggested by the name previously 
given to the fort. The town extends along the southern 
bank of French creek and western bank of the Alle- 
gheny. The valley containing the town plot is probably 
half a mile wide and two miles in length, surrounded on 
every side by bold hills rising to the height of six hun- 
dred feet above the river. It is about sixty miles from 
the southern shore of Lake Erie, and about seventy 
from Pittsburgh, by land, and about double this distance 
by the course of the river. 

The surface of Venango county is rather broken and 
rough. The Allegheny river flows nearly through the 
centre of the county, but such is the structure of the 
land, that it runs towards every point of the compass in 
its course through the county. Bituminous coal is 
found in the southern and western portions, and in al- 
most every portion the hills and high lands abound in 
iron ore, that was esteemed of good quality, until the 
6 



26 , CHARACTER OF COUNTRY. 

richer developments of Missouri and Lake Superior 
threw it into the shade. Good water is found in every 
part of the county. Beautiful springs gush from the 
hill sides, and even arise on the tops of the highest hills. 
There is much good farming land, yet the general im- 
pression made upon the mind of a stranger, ignorant of 
the wealth beneath the rock, would be that Venango 
would not be a desirable country to settle in ; and the 
impression in regard to Franklin a half dozen years ago 
would have been, that its streets would not require 
paving with stone, as nature was fast performing that 
work with a green carpet of grass. 

Franklin is elevated about seven hundred and fifty 
feet above Pittsburgh, so that there is a fall in the Alle- 
gheny averaging about five and a third feet per mile. 
From Franklin to Meadville, about thirty miles by 
the course of French creek, there is an ascent of 
about one hundred and thirty feet, or four and a 
third feet on an average per mile. It is perhaps fifty 
miles from the great table land, or dividing ridge, that 
separates the waters of the Allegheny valley from those 
of Lake Erie. 

Venango county was taken from Allegheny and 
Lycoming counties, by an act of Assembly, passed 
March 12th, 1800, and w r as organized for judicial pur- 
poses, by act of April 1st, 1805. In 1839 its proportions 
were somewhat curtailed by the organization of Clarion 
county from a portion of its eastern territory. The 
county now forms a very irregular figure, with many 
angles, and contains about eight hundred and fifty 
square miles. The population was, in 1800, 1,130; 
in 1810, 3,060; in 1820, 4,915; in 1830, 9,470; in 1840, 
17,900; in 1850, 18,310; 1860, 25,044. 



VICINITY OF FRANKLIN. 27 

Besides Allegheny river and French creek, there are 
numerous other small streams in the county that have 
recently become famous, and that are destined to be- 
come historical : amongst these the most important, are 
Oil Greek, entering the Allegheny seven miles above 
Franklin. Its tributaries are Cherry Run, Cherry Tree 
Eun, and Cornplanter's Run. Pit-hole Creek, sixteen 
miles above Franklin; Hemlock, twenty-one miles; Horse 
Creek, eleven miles above Franklin; Tionesta, thirty 
miles above Franklin. Still above these are West, 
East, and Little Hickory. The Two Mile Run, is two 
miles above Franklin. Below Franklin, and flowing 
into the Allegheny, we have East Sandy, Big Sandy, 
and Scrubgrass. As tributaries of French Creek, we 
have Patchell's Run, Sugar Creek, Mill Creek, and 
Deer Creek. These names, although many of them 
belong to insignificant streams, are yet most of them 
familiar terms, from Maine to the great West, and even 
in foreign countries.- 

Oil City, now a rival of Franklin, the county seat, 
like Jonah's gourd, has sprung up almost in a night. It 
is situated at the mouth of Oil creek, and lies on both 
sides of the creek, extending up the steep bluff, that 
rises on the northern side of the creek. It contains 
at the present time probably 3000 inhabitants, and is a 
place of wonderful activity and enterprise. There " oil 
men" most do congregate. It already contains two 
banks of issue and one of exchange and deposit. On 
the site of Oil City, a town was laid out about a quarter 
of a century ago, but it did not flourish, and soon fell 
into dilapidation and decay. It had anciently a mill, 
a furnace, and store, besides a warehouse and steamboat 
landing : but after contending for a time against un- 



28 EARLY SETTLEKS. 

favorable circumstances, it yielded to manifest destiny, 
and went quietly to sleep, until the opening of the oil 
business awaked it to new life and energy. On the 
opposite side of the river is situated Venango City, a town 
of much promise, and beauty of location. 

Further up Oil creek, we have Eouseville, McClin- 
tockville, Petroleum Centre, and other little villages, 
scattered along the valley, making almost a continuous 
city, from the mouth of Oil creek to Titusville, a dis- 
tance of fifteen miles. There are other towns connected 
with the oil business, as Tionesta, at the mouth of Tio- 
nesta creek, thirty miles above Franklin ; Utica, nine 
miles above Franklin on French creek ; Coopertown, 
the same distance from Franklin, on Sugar creek, 
and Waterloo, four miles from Franklin, on Big Sandy 
creek. 

The first settlers of Venango county were a body of 
pioneers, and came from various parts of the country. 
Some were from New England, some from Wyoming 
valley, and many from the middle counties of Pennsyl- 
vania. They came, as a general thing, not for the sake 
of adventure, but with a view of becoming permanent 
settlers ; of planting themselves upon the soil, and 
making it their home. Amongst the first settlers were 
George Powers, Edward Hale, Wm. Connoly, Col. Mc- 
Donell, and Samuel Hays. George Powers came in 1787 
to assist in the erection of the fort, and six years after- 
wards with a view of settling, and opened a store for 
the purpose of trading with the Indians. He was a 
man of great enterprise, and spoke the language of the 
Senecas with the ease of a native. He was on particu- 
larly good terms with Cornplanter, the famous Seneca 
chief. An anecdote is related of him, in connection 



EARLY SETTLERS. 29 

with his traffic with the Indians. One day a particu- 
larly fine fox skin was brought in and purchased, and, as 
usual, thrown up into the loft of the store. A few hours 
later, another fine skin was purchased, soon after an- 
other, and another ; until wondering that so many fine 
skins should all appear in one day, an examination was 
made, when it was discovered that but one skin had con- 
stituted the entire stock in trade, and had been quietly 
removed through an upper window at the back of the 
store, and resold again and again, until quite a revenue 
had been derived from it. The descendants of Mr. 
Powers are among the citizens of Franklin at the 
present time. 

William Conolly came to this county in 1800, and is 
still living in Franklin, at an advanced age. 

Col. McDowell came to Franklin sometime between 
1790 and 1795, from the eastern part of Pennsylvania. 
His widow still resides near the place where they first 
pitched their tent; and is at present the oldest inhabi- 
tant of the place. Edward Hale settled here in 1797. 

General Samuel Hays came out in 1803. He was 
born in Ireland, but came to America when eight or 
nine years of age. He has been an important man in 
the political history of the county, and has held at one 
time or another, almost every office in the gift of the 
people. General Hays was the father of General Alex- 
ander Hays, who fell at the head of his brigade during 
the terrible battle of the Wilderness, on the 5th of May, 
1864. 

The early settlement of this region was attended 

with many hardships and privations. The roads were 

in a primitive state, just as they had been left by the 

military authorities. Mills must be erected; iron 

3* 



30 FIRST COURT — JAIL. 

and salt brought from a great distance, and often on the 
backs of pack-horses; grain was sometimes carried on 
men's backs to other counties to be ground, and back 
again; cloth must be woven and leather tanned, by do- 
mestic process alone ; and all this required labor, coil, 
and self-denial. 

Said one old pioneer, in quaint and simple language, 
" Me, and my woman, come out from JPitchburg country, 
with all we had on our backs, walking and driving one 
little cow. We wrought hard all day, and at night we 
had plenty of nice dry leaves, gathered up in the woods 
to sleep on." 

The first court was held in 1805. The court-room 
was a log house, fronting the Diamond, and long after- 
wards occupied as a drug-store. It was demolished in 
1863. 

At the organization of the county for judicial pur- 
poses, "the old garrison" at the mouth of French creek 
was used for a jail. This was the only building used for 
that purpose until 1819, when a small stone building, 
with yard attached, was erected on the Diamond. This 
continued to be the receptacle of prisoners until 1853, 
when the present jail was erected, and the old building 
demolished. This old building was located a little to 
the northeast of the present court-house, the well that is 
still used for water being within the enclosure of the 
yard. 

A very important feature in the modern history of 
this county was its iron operations. It was once 
thought to be particularly rich in this metal, and its 
business was the honor and pride of its inhabitants. If 
the mines were not so extensive, nor its ore so rich as 
more recent developments in other States, they were 



FURNACES. 31 

satisfactory in that day, and answered a most admirable 
purpose. 

What gave a special stimulus and encouragement to 
the iron business was the favorable features of the tariff 
of 1842, preventing, or at least lessening, the importation 
of iron, and enhancing the price of the domestic article. 
Capitalists from abroad, as well as at home, were 
induced to embark in the business, until, five years later, 
in 1847, there was no less than seventeen furnaces in 
blast, producing in the aggregate about 12,000 tons of 
"pig iron " per annum, valued at that time at about 
§380,000. The power used in these furnaces was in 
every case water ; the face of the country being favorable 
to the construction of dams, and this being the cheapest 
power that could be adopted. The fuel used was exclu- 
sively charcoal, and generally manufactured on the 
grounds adjacent to the furnaces. Bituminous coal 
could not be used at all, as the variety found in the 
county is so largely impregnated with sulphur, as to be 
destructive to the iron. The consequence was that the 
timber was mercilessly destroyed in the region near 
these iron works, the result of w T hich can be seen to 
the present day, in the small growth of scrubby timber 
upon the hill sides. 

Some of these furnaces used "bog ore" exclusively; 
yielding less metal, but the product was a very superior 
iron for foundry purposes. The amount of capital 
employed in the business, during its palmy days, is un- 
certain, as many operators used borrowed capital, or 
carried on their business through the agency of stores, 
the merchandize of which was bought on credit, and 
paid for when the iron was taken to market and sold. 
"A furnace store," in those days, was a peculiar institu- 



32 ROLLING MILL. 

tion. It contained everything that was wanted in the 
county, from a needle to an anchor, and at prices and in 
quality that would have put a modern shoddy contractor 
to the blush. It was a strange business, a little hard on 
the conscience, a little demoralizing to the ancient 
canons of upright dealing, and carried on with very doubt- 
ful success. It was said in those days, that the only 
way in which an ironmaster's probable wealth could be 
estimated, was by the same process by which a rattle- 
snake's length could be measured, that lay coiled in the 
bush — by waiting until he was dead and his condi- 
tion brought to light. This, however, was no doubt a 
calumny. Many of them were noble, honorable men, 
and did much for the development of the county. Many 
men who were trying to settle farms, were at that day 
dependent on the furnaces for a semi-livelihood in the 
interim of seasons, when they could be spared from 
their farms. The amount of capital necessary to carry 
on these furnaces, was probably about $20,000 each ; or 
at the time when most numerous, about $340,000 in the 
aggregate. 

But a change came. In 1848 a new tariff on iron, 
less favorable in its protection to home manufacturers, 
was passed, and the business declined rapidly. Some of 
these furnaces lingered long in their decline. Perhaps 
Horse creek, on the Allegheny, struggled the longest, 
but it died at last, and with it the iron business in 
Venango county. It will never be resuscitated. But 
we should cherish its memory, for it served to keep us 
alive until the development of better things. 

Another enterprise, connected with the industrial 
enterprises of the county, was the Franklin Rolling Mill, 
embracing a nail factory. This was erected in 1843, 



CANAL. 33 

and continued in operation until 1850, when the gen- 
eral failure of the furnace business caused its proprietors 
to cease all active operations. This establishment was 
carried on under the firm of " Nock, Dangerfield & Co.," 
and was prosecuted with a good degree of vigor, accom- 
panied by the inevitable store, which seemed part and 
parcel of all iron operations. Its capacity was about 
eight tons of manufactured iron per day, or rather five 
tons of bar iron and three of nails. Iron of a good 
quality was produced, and nails of all the various 
grades in use. The capital invested was about $60,000. 
The site is now occupied by a barrel and tag factory, 
that is doing a flourishing business. 

Another item, illustrating the early struggles of the 
county, as it awaited the opening of the great petro- 
leum business, was the history of the Franklin Canal 
Company. It was at first known as the French Creek 
Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, and was intended 
as a link in the chain of water communication from Erie 
to Pittsburgh, and thence to Philadelphia. This link 
consisted in building dams on French creek, and thus 
opening slackwater navigation between this point and 
Meadville, connecting with the Allegheny to Pittsburg. 
It was built in 1832-3. But about this time other 
counsels prevailed in the State legislation, and the work 
lost its importance in official view, so much that the 
work was abandoned almost as soon as it was completed. 
Only two boats were ever launched on its waters, one of 
which made two trips to Meadville, the other but one. 
French creek is a large and rapid stream, and subject to 
tremendous freshets. It was soon found that the 
dams were not sufficient to control it, and before long it 
began to fall into decay. The dams gave way, the pools 



34 FIRST STEAMBOAT. 

were drained, and the locks became useless. It was, 
however, kept in running order for descending navigation 
for about ten years, when it was finally abandoned. 

The construction of this work cost the State about one 
million and a quarter dollars, with about fifty thousand 
dollars for repairs subsequently. The toils of course 
never paid the expense of receiving them. A flour mill 
now uses the power generated by the outlet dam; the 
stones that formed the locks have many of them found 
their way into cellar walls, and into the public buildings 
of Franklin, while some of them yet linger in the dilapi- 
dated works where they were originally placed. 

But to Franklin and Venango county it was the 
fading away of a great hope, the tumbling of a grand 
castle, that once promised so fairly and beautifully in 
the way of future prosperity. 

Franklin was formerly considered the head of steam- 
boat navigation on the Allegheny. At one time the 
navigation was the source of great convenience and 
profit. But it had greatly fallen off, at a period just 
before the opening of the oil trade. The iron business 
had ceased, and navigation was uncertain, owing to the 
operation of local causes on the river itself. The forests 
at the head waters were falling before the axe of the 
lumberman and farmer ; the swamps were drying up, 
and the volume of water materially lessened. The first 
steamboat that was seen in Venango county made its 
advent in 1826. It was called the " Duncan," and 
was hailed with almost as much enthusiasm and glad- 
as was the first boat propelled by steam on the 
Hudson. Tradition still relates, that as it rounded the 
bend in the river below Franklin, and steamed proudly 
up to the landing, miserable little stern-wheel as she 



GREAT FHOST. 35 

was, that the welkin rang with the shouts of the multi- 
tude. It was on a quiet Sabbath afternoon, but the 
occasion was so important, and the era so wonderful, 
that nearly the entire population turned out to do honor 
to it. And this dream, too, vanished. The hope of a 
great internal trade, through the Allegheny and the 
Mississippi rivers, settled down, as others had done 
before it, in darkness and disappointment. 

And last of all, the lumber trade that nurtured and 
strengthened all the northern portion of the county, 
began to decline. The pine trees along the margins of 
the streams had disappeared, and the finest portions 
of the timber lands were deprived of their beauty and 
glory, and the whole trade was declining. The Venango 
County Railroad, that had galvanized the countv into°a 
spasmodic kind of life, lingered along, tangible only on 
the imposing map of " The Great Air Line Railroad," 
and finally gave up the ghost. Hope was just ready to 
die out in the hearts of the people, and it lacked but 
one more feather to break the camel's back. It soon 
came. The crash was terrible. 

This was the great frost of June 5th, 1859. It inflict- 
ed a blow upon this and surrounding counties, under 
which they reeled and tottered, as from an earthquake. 
Ruin and desolation seemed staring us in the face. The 
breath of God, usually so pleasant and balmy at this 
season of the year, was changed to frost, and the fields 
that were beginning to smile for the harvest were 
blighted, and all our hopes crushed and trampled in the 
dust. The memory of that pleasant Sabbath morning 
in June will never pass away from those who witnessed 
it. The sweet sunshine was all around, and the calm 
blue sky seemed to bend over and bless the earth ; but 



36 GREAT FROST — CHART OF DISTANCES. 

the fields were blackened and blasted, as though the 
Sirocco had swept through the valley, and lingered on 
the hill sides. Men's hearts failed them for fear — suffer- 
ing and famine were just ready to stalk forth with their 
gaunt and shadowy train. A deep and heavy gloom 
settled over the entire community, and the fear arose 
that multitudes of our citizens would be forced to emi- ' 
grate to more propitious soils and more generous climes. 
In fact, many of the citizens of the county were making 
arrangements to leave for other regions of country, when 
the change came, and a beneficent Providence opened up 
stores of wealth, such as are unknown to any county 
in the Union. 

It seems that for more than forty long years, this 
region of country has been waiting, like Mr. Micawber, 
"looking for something to turn up." But it did seem 
as though it waited in vain. One star after another 
w r ould come out from the darkness, and kindle in its 
brightness, until it appeared as though it would light up 
the whole heavens with its glow ; but ere this was ac- 
complished it would die out, leaving the heavens darker 
than ever. But man's extremity is God's opportunity. 
In the August succeeding this dreadful frost, the first 
grand development was made of our internal resources. 
And the cry was like the cry for bread to the famishing 
prisoner. It kindled up new life ; it inspired new hope. 
The tide became one of immigration, as multitudes sud- 
denly sought the new found oil regions. 

The chart upon the following page, giving the distan- 
ces from Franklin to all important points in the oil region, 
will be found interesting. It was prepared by Mr. Jo.H. 
Simonds, of the firm of Jo. H. Simonds & Co., an enter- 
prising and reliable firm of real estate agents in Franklin. 



CHART OF DISTANCES. 



37 



UP THE ALLEGHENY. 

Miles. 

Franklin to Two-mile Run -j Reed Run [ 2 

f Cornplanter's Run 

I Cherry Run 

I Cherry tree Run -j Michael's Run \ 

Oil Creek, \ Bennyhoof Run 

Pioneer Creek 

Bull Run 

Pine Creek 

Horse Creek 10 

Panther Run — 

Piihole Creek... { 5M££ } 16 

Muskrat Run 18 

Hemlock Creek 21 

McCray Creek 25 

Little Tionesta Creek 28 

Hunter's Run 29J 

Jamisson Run 29 

C Coon Creek, ") 
Tionesta Creek.. < Ross Run, > 30 

( Salmon Run, J 

Little Hickory Creek 34 

West Hickory Creek 37 

East Hickory Creek 37 

MaguireRun 40 

DOWN THE ALLEGHENY. 

Franklin to Lower Two-mile Run 2 

ii i» -u* a a j n if Shaw's Run, 

M East bandy Creek. \ n „, B ' 

J { Hall s Run, 

[ Ridgeway Run, 1 

<( it -D- o j n i Trout Run, 

*■ Bis bandy Creek.. { a ., a \ y 

° J South Sandy, 

[ Little Sandy, J 
" May's Run 15 

M M Big Scrubgrass Creek 18 

M Schull's Run 24 

M " Little Scrubgrass Creek 30 

UP FRENCH CREEK. 

q«~ a ~ /v^i. f Homan Run, ) 

busar Creek I tit j -d ( o 

t,?i «. .i) < UordenRun, > 2 

ratchell s Run.. ) -r, t> I 

(, Bowman Run, J 

Mill Creek 9 

Deer Creek 11 



11 



Franklin to. 



38 TOWER OF BABEL. 



CHAPTER III. 

ANCIENT HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 

"We come now to speak of the grand and important 
production of Venango county. It is called Petroleum 
from the Greek words Petros and elaion, signifying 
rock oil. Sometimes it is called simply rock oil : for- 
merly it was generally known as Seneca oil, being 
brought to the notice of the early settlers by the Seneca 
Indians. It is no new article in the world's economy. 
It is almost as old as the history of time. It has been 
found in various forms, and used for various purposes ; 
but in all has ministered greatly to the wants and 
comforts of mankind. We read of it in the sacred 
writings, the earliest records of man. Profane writers 
allude to it, and mention the important uses to which it 
has been applied. It appears to have been known 
anciently more in the form of asphaltum than in any 
other ; and the first recorded use was in masonry. We have 
the first record of its use, four thousand years ago, in 
the erection of the tower of Babel. Genesis xi. 3. 
The projected building was to be on the plains of Shi- 
nar. It was to reach to' heaven and stand as an eternal 
monument of the wisdom, and skill, and forethought of 
its builders. Again, nearly two hundred years later, 
we read in Genesis xiv. 10, that " the vale of Siddim 
was full of slime pits," referring without doubt to the 



HERODOTUS — CARTWRIGHT. 39 

springs and fountains of asphaltum, that abound to this 
day in that region, and on the shore of the Dead 
Sea. 

It was also an important material in building the 
walls of ancient Babylon. The work was at least in 
part accomplished not less than 3000 years ago.' Herod- 
otus, the Greek historian, uses the following language in 
relation to the buildings of Babylon : " Digging a fosse 
or ditch, the earth which was cast up they formed 
into bricks and desiring large ones they burned them 
in furnaces, using for lime, or mortar, hot asphalt as, 
or bitumen." He relates further, that this bitumen was 
brought from the river Is, a tributary of the Euphrates. 

Cartwright, an old traveler of the last century, gives 
the following account of his observations at this same 
river Is. " From the ruins of old Babylon, we came to a 
town called Ait; (the modern Heet) near unto which 
town is a valley of pitch, very marvellous to behold, and 
things almost incredible, wherein are many springs 
throwing out abundantly a kind of black substance, like 
unto tar, or pitch, which serveth all the countries there- 
about to make staunch their barks and boats ; every one 
of which springs makes a noise like a smith's forge, 
which never ceaseth night or day, and the noise is 
heard a mile off, swallowing up all weighty things 
that come upon it" 

A later traveler, Mr. Eich, says, " The principal 
bitumen pit at Heet has two sources, and is divided 
by a wall in the centre, on one side of which the 
bitumen bubbles up, and on the other the oil of 
Naptha." 

Curtius, Diodorous, Siculus, Bochart, and Josephus, 
all speak of bitumen as forming a constituent of those 



40 LAYARD — EMBALMING. 

mighty walls, and lofty towers, and pensile gardens, 
that were the wonder of the world. 

As even more suggestive of some of the scenes of 
modern times in the Venango Oil region, we quote 
from Layard's " Nineveh and Babylon," giving an 
account of a bitumen pit on fire. " Tongues of flame 
and jets of gas, driven from the burning pit, shot 
through the murky canopy. As the fire brightened, 
a thousand fantastic forms of light, played amid the 
smoke. In an hour the bitumen was exhausted for 
the time, the dense smoke gradually died away, and 
the pale light of the moon shone over the black 
slime pits." 

And now, after the lapse of thirty-five centuries, 
with all that time can do in corroding, and under- 
mining, and destroying the work of man, the remains 
of these petroleum-built walls and towns still exist. 
Occasional fragments of bricks, with the asphaltum 
still clinging to them, are exhumed and brought to light. 
This substance was also used in Egypt at an 
early day, — as early as history furnishes us the facts 
of the times. From the accounts, at the close of 
the book of Genesis, of the embalming of Jacob 
and Joseph, we infer that the matter of embalming 
was a common process then, a period of 1700 years 
before Christ. Dr. Pettigrew, in his " History of 
Egyptian Mummies," tells us, that many of the mum- 
mies that he exhumed, had the cavities of the bodies 
filled with asphaltum. A French writer, on the 
same subject, quoted by Pettigrew, says these bodies 
were often immersed in liquified pitch, a composi- 
tion formed of common pitch and asphaltum. Modern 
research and observation, would confirm this no- 



PAPYRUS. 41 

tion of the extensive use of petroleum in the process 
of embalming. The color, the odor, the inflammable 
nature of the mummy, all indicate its presence. The 
cerements, and even the embalmed body itself, often 
assist in kindling and keeping up the fire of the 
wandering Arab, and sometimes that of the more 
civilized traveler. 

It was used in other processes in Egyptian art. 
An antiquarian friend* relates, that having received 
a piece of Egyptian papyrus, with characters in- 
scribed thereon, he placed it in the crown of his hat 
as the most secure place of carrying the precious 
relic to his rooms. On removing the papyrus from his 
hat, he discovered quite an odor of petroleum, that had 
been set free by the heat of his head. It is probable 
that in the manufacture of the papyrus, petroleum 
had been used in part as an agglutinant, and in part 
to prevent the attacks of insects, and the corroding 
effects of time. * 

From those days so ancient, that history would 
be dim and obscure, were it not for light from the 
sacred page, down to the present time, petroleum has 
occupied a place in the arrangements of man, either as 
an article of utility or luxury. It has been found crop- 
ping out, in some form or other, in every continent and 
almost on every island, giving token of its presence, and 
dimly foreshadowing its future importance and value. 

In more modern times it has been found in Burmah, 
in Zante, in the north of Italy, and, in fact, almost 
always in the neighborhood of volcanoes; sometimes 
issuing through the earth, and at others bubbling up 



* L. G. Olmstead, LL. D. 
4* 



/ 



42 TAR LAKE. — TEXAS. 

through the waters of the sea. Perhaps the most 
remarkable natural fountain of petroleum of which we 
have knowledge, is on the Island of Trinidad, in the 
West Indies. It is known among the inhabitants of 
the island, as the Tar Lake. Bitumen in a hot state 
is continually boiling up, until it has formed a lake 
three or four miles in circumference. In the centre, 
or at the mouth, of the fountain, the oil is hot and 
liquid, but as it recedes in every direction, it gradually 
cools and thickens until on the shores it becomes solid. 
This petroleum lake is now in the hands of a London 
company, who will soon bring its exhaustless wealth into 
the market. Humboldt also reports the spontaneous 
product of petroleum in the West India islands to 
be large, and as it runs to waste, it covers a large sur- 
face of the sea with its unctuous tide. This report was 
made in 1799. 

Many years ago, a newspaper correspondent reported 
that within an hundred miles of Houston, Texas, 
there was a small lake or pond, a quarter of a mile 
in circumference, in the centre of which issues a fountain 
of petroleum boiling up from the bottom, evidently 
from some fissure in the rocks, and affording an indefi- 
nite supply. 

The field is large. The source of supply exhaustless. 
It has evidently been a product of earth from the begin- 
ning. It has been one of God's great gifts to his crea- 
tures, designed for their happiness; but kept locked up 
in his secret laboratory, and developed only in accord- 
ance with their necessities. And now in our own day, 
and in these ends of the earth, the great treasure house 
has been unlocked, the seal broken, and the supply fur- 
nished most abundantly. 



IMPORTANT TRUTHS. 43 

It has always been a feature of the economy of Provi- 
dence, that the stores of his bounty are brought to light 
just as they are needed. The minerals of earth have 
lain hid in its bosom until absolutely needed. Men 
have walked over the gold fields of the world, without 
discovering their value, until, in the scheme of Provi- 
dence, some great change was about to take place, 
requiring the treasure, and then it has been brought 
to light. Men walked over these hills and through 
these Venango valleys ignorant of the precious treasure 
that flowed beneath, even though it was suggested by 
a thousand bubbling springs by the wayside, and a 
thousand rainbow tints upon the surface of the creeks 
and rivers. But, during this latter half of the nine- 
teenth century, a call was to be made upon the treasures 
hidden beneath the surface of the soil. A terrible 
struggle was approaching, in which the nation's life 
should be at stake; republican institutions are to be on 
trial. Other nations are to be spectators of the strange 
and terrible conflict. Not only blood but treasure is to 
be poured out like water in the nation's cause, and in 
the cause of civil and religious liberty ; and so God 
opens the store-houses he has prepared against the day 
of sore trial. The gold fields of California, and Nevada, 
and Idaho, and Arizona pour their riches into the 
nation's coffers ; the fountains of petroleum gush forth 
in wondrous exuberance; private enterprise is rewarded; 
the revenue of the Government is wonderfully enlarged; 
exports to foreign lands prevent the drainage of the 
precious metals from our midst, and there is kept up 
a just equlibrium in the trade of the country. Who 
can doubt but that in the wise operations of God's 
Providence, the immense oil resources of the country 



44 ANCIENT TRACES. 

have been developed at this particular, time, to aid in 
the solution of the mighty problem of the nation's des- 
tiny? The treasures of the earth all belong to the 
Lord, and he uses them for his own wise purposes, and 
for the promotion of his own glory. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ANTIQUITY OF THE OIL BUSINESS IN VENANGO COUNTY, 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

The oil region of Western Pennsylvania, and par- 
ticularly Venango county, is the portion of oil produc- 
ing territory that now occupies the largest share of 
attention. It is true that oil wells are successfully 
worked to a limited extent in some other counties, still 
Venango county has, thus far, monopolized almost the 
whole number of really valuable oil producing wells in 
this region. 

As a product of this portion of the country, this re- 
markable substance became known to civilization some- 
time about the middle of the last century. The chief 
source of supply was on Oil creek, and was collected in 
small quantities by the Seneca Indians, and used by 
them in mixing their war paint and in the medication 
of wounds. In the latter capacity it became known to 
the earliest white settlers, and was used by them for 
almost all external injuries, as well as taken occasion- 
ally as an internal remedy. Still the supply was neces- 



OIL PITS. 45 

sarily limited, as we shall hereafter have occasion to * 
notice. 

There are some strange facts in connection with this 
region, that point to a history all unwritten save in some 
few brief sentences, in pits and excavations, of oil ope- 
rations along the valley of Oil creek, and near its mouth 
on the Allegheny. These detached fragments, like the 
remains of the Sybilline oracles, but cause us to regret 
more earnestly the loss of the volumes that contained 
the whole record. A grand and wonderful history has 
been that of this American Continent; but it has never 
been written in the archives of time. The actors in its 
shadowy scenes have passed away in their shadowy 
grandeur, leaving but dim footprints here and there 
to tell us they have been, and cause us to wonder at 
the mystery that veils their record, and to muse upon 
the evanescent glory of man's earthly history. 

Along the valley of Oil creek are clear traces of 
ancient operations. Over sections embracing hundreds 
of acres in extent, the surface of the land has, at some 
remote period of time, been excavated in the form 
of oblong pits, from four by six, to six by eight feet in 
size. These pits are often from four to six feet still in 
depth, notwithstanding the action of rain and frost for 
so many years. Some of these pits appear to have been 
of a circular or oval form, but all to have been exca- 
vated with care, and with reference to one design. 
They are found in the oil region, and over the oil 
deposits, and in no other place ; affording unmistakable 
evidence of their design and use. The deeper and 
larger pits appear to have been cribbed up with timber 
at the sides, in order to preserve their form, and better 
to adapt them to the end in view; this cribbing was 



46 MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN. 

roughly done. The timber was deprived of its bark, 
halved, and rudely adjusted at the corners. In one 
instance, as workmen were excavating the earth pre- 
paratory to the erection of a saw mill, in a soft, marshy 
place, one of these circular pits was discovered in the 
form of a well, perhaps four feet in diameter, with the 
walls lined with timber set up vertically. These tim- 
bers were twelve feet in length, indicating a well of 
that depth. This well, of course, was filled up nearly to 
the surface with mud and sediment; but indicating the 
same design as those before described. The timber had 
the bark removed, but was apparently sound and free 
from decay. In the immediate neighborhood of this well 
there is about an acre covered with these ancient works. 
In one of these a tree was felled, upon the stump of 
which eighty concentric circles or growths were counted, 
indicating its probable age. This was half a century 
ago. This record of the forest trees is not unfrequent 
among these oil pits. Farther up the creek, upon the 
septa that divide them, and even in the pits them- 
selves, trees have grown up more than one foot and a 
half in diameter, with as many as two hundred of these 
growths, indicating an antiquity ante-dating the earliest 
records of civilized life in this region. For centuries 
has this treasure been affording intimations of its pre- 
sence. Before Columbus had touched these Western 
shores, was it gathered here, in this valley, as an article 
of utility or luxury, by the processes of design and labor, 
and with the idea of use, traffic, and emolument. 

By whom were these excavations planned and these 
pits fashioned, that tell of the search for, and the col- 
lection of, petroleum so many years ago? Let the 
mighty dead that are slumbering in our valleys, and 



ATTRIBUTED TO THE FRENCH. " 47 

the remains of whose fortifications and cities are jet 
scattered all over the great West, as magnificent, as 
vast, and gorgeous as the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, 
arise and speak, for they alone of mortals can tell. 
Here is a question for the antiquary quite as interesting 
and greatly more mysterious than any that pertains to 
the ruins of ancient Europe, or Asia, or Africa. Con- 
cerning the latter we have dim and misty records. The 
memory of the past is kept alive either by historical 
records, or by reasonably reliable tradition. We know 
who built the walls of Babylon, and sculptured the 
winged lions of Nineveh. We are acquainted with 
the people, their language, and manners, and customs, 
who lived in Pompeii and Herculaneum. But of those 
who toiled, and lived, and loved, and died in these oil 
valleys we know absolutely nothing. Their origin, 
their race, their language, their religion is shrouded in 
darkness and mystery that is impenetrable. We have 
but the dim footprints, we can measure them approxi- 
mative^ ; but cannot tell whence they came, or whither 
they have gone. Not a date has survived them, not a 
tradition has remained among any people that have 
survived them, that would satisfy us as to their history. 
From the fact that some of these pits have been 
cribbed with timber bearing marks of a cutting instru- 
ment in its adjustment, many have assigned them a 
modern origin, and supposed that their construction was 
due to the French, who, at one time, occupied to a cer- 
tain extent the Venango oil region. But this theory 
is scarcely plausible, and certainly not tenable. Fort 
Venango was completed by them on the present site of 
Franklin in 1754, and this was probably about the 
beginning of their active operations in this region. But 



48 TKEES GROWING IN OIL PITS. 

the construction of these pits no doubt ante-dates the 
French operations very many years. Timber placed in 
these oil pits, and thoroughly impregnated by its pre- 
serving properties, would be almost proof against the 
ravages of time. As evidence of this, petroleum, in 
some of its forms, entered largely into ingredients used 
in embalming by the ancient Egyptians; their embalmed 
bodies remain perfect to this day. Even the cerements 
remain distinct and perfect in every fold, and crease, and 
thread, as they were arranged in days when Israel was 
toiling under the oppression of the taskmaster, render- 
ing day by day "the tale of bricks." 

There is evidence, too, from the growth of timber in 
the very beds of these excavations, that they claim an 
antiquity greater far than the occupation of these valleys 
by the French. There are as large trees growing among 
and upon the oil pits, as in the surrounding neighbor- 
hood, and there is no special reason to suppose that these 
were the first trees that sprung up after the abandon- 
ment of the work. Those now found there were, some 
of them, not less than two hundred years old, and it 
would be as unreasonable to suppose this period marks 
the date of the construction of these works, as that the 
reputed age of the oldest trees on any of our table lands 
marks the date when the country emerged from choas. 
These trees, however, undoubtedly indicate that these 
operations were not carried on later than their growth 
would indicate. Year after year, a silent, solemn record 
was made by the concentric circles, first in the shrub, 
next in the sapling, and then in the fully developed 
tree, that tells of the lapse of time since these mysteri- 
ous works were in operation. 

Besides this, where was the market for the immense 



FRENCH ORIGIN NOT TENABLE. 49 

quantity of petroleum that must have been produced 
from these excavations, on the supposition that they 
were constructed by the French ? Surely not in Canada 
or France, for neither in the misty traditions, nor early 
records of that time, do we find reference to any large 
quantity of this product; nor had they facilities for con- 
veying it to the seaboard, had there been a demand for 
it at home. 

The sole object of the French at that time was to gain 
military possession of the country. This was the de- 
clared object, as seen from their records and military 
correspondence. It is seen in the line of forts thrown 
across the country from Erie, Pennsylvania, extending 
through Waterford, (Fort Le Boeuf,) Franklin, (Fort 
Venango,) to Logstown, a point on the Ohio river 
below Pittsburgh. There is no evidence that they made 
any attempt, either to cultivate the soil, save in a tem- 
porary way, or to develop the mineral resources of the 
country. Another objection that is fatal to this theory 
is, that, at this time, the Indians were exceedingly 
jealous of the encroachments of the pale faces. They 
watched their movements with the most unslumbering 
vigilance. The homes of their children, and the graves 
of their fathers were in danger; and it is beyond the 
bounds of credulity to suppose that they would have 
permitted them to carry on these operations for years, 
turning up the soil, cutting down the timber, and dese- 
crating their hunting grounds, when their overpowering 
numbers could easily have prevented it at any time. 
At a much later day the Indians claimed this unguent 
as one of the special gifts of the Great Spirit to his red 
children, and they would have as readily tolerated the 
driving away of their game, and destruction of their 
5 



50 SUPPOSED INDIAN ORIGIN. 

corn, as the carrying away the " medicine" given them 
to heal their wounds, anoint their joints for the wilder- 
ness march, and adorn their bodies for the war path. 

Another theory, that has been somewhat popular, is, 
that these pits are due to the labors of the American 
Indians. But the very term labor seems absurd when 
used in reference to these lords of the forest. They 
never employed themselves in manual labor of any kind. 
They scorned it as unworthy their dignity and indepen- 
dence. The female portion of the community planted a 
little corn, and constructed rude lodges to shelter them- 
selves from the wintry blast; but they never even 
dreamed of trade or commerce. The Indian loved to 
roam through the wilderness, to hunt the red deer and 
follow the war-path — to seek for game to supply present 
wants, or to bring home the scalp of his enemy as a 
trophy of his prowess; but would scorn to bend his 
strength to rude toil in excavating multitudinous pits 
for the reception of oil, or in bearing it from place to 
place after it had been secured. They had no imple- 
ments in their possession when first known to the civil- 
ized world, either for excavating or for cribbing the 
work when excavated, and it is preposterous to suppose 
that their civilization was of a higher type, or their 
knowledge of the arts more extensive at any former 
period of their history. 

Beyond all doubt the Indians were well acquainted 
with the existence and many of the properties of petro- 
leum. That they valued it is beyond a question. They 
used it both for medicinal and for toilette purposes. 
But they knew of its existence and production just as 
the earlier white settlers did: they found it bubbling up 
from the bed of the stream, and from the marshy places 



NO PROOF OF INDIAN ORIGIN. 51 

along its banks. They, no doubt, collected it in small 
quantities, without labor and without much forethought, 
and with this small supply were content. The surface 
oil would more than answer all their purposes. But 
even if a much larger supply had been desirable, and if 
the modern idea of traffic had found a place in their 
hearts, they had no facilities for conveying it from place 
to place. Even at the present time, with all our im- 
provement in the arts, and with all the stimulus of 
enterprise and demand, the great desideratum is an 
appropriate vessel for carrying petroleum from place to 
place, or retaining it safely in any locality; but the 
Indians were utterly destitute of any appliances suitable 
for the purpose. If they were acquainted with a rude 
kind of pottery, it was without glazing, and unsuitable 
for containing fluids, particularly petroleum. Fragments 
of pottery are still found in these valleys, probably due 
to the labor of the Indian squaws, but it is brittle and 
exceedingly porous — hardly capable of being used as 
drinking vessels ; and we have no knowledge of their 
ability to construct vessels of any other material that 
would answer the desired purpose. The inference is 
therefore fair, that, for purposes of trade, the production 
of oil was not desirable in so large quantities as indicated 
by these excavations. 

The same reasons would hold good in reference to its 
use in the religious ceremonies of the Indians. It could 
be used only in limited quantities, from the want of con- 
venient receptacles for its retention and carriage. Be- 
sides, we doubt whether the Indians were sufficiently 
devout to resort to such labor and pains in religious 
worship. Nor would the Indian character readily dis- 
play itself in this form of worship. It partakes too 



52 APOCRYPHAL STORY. 

much of the ideal and sentimental. They sometimes 
worshipped the sun, but the oblations were generally in 
the form of a sacrifice laid upon the altar. The victim 
usually offered by the Senecas was a white dog, and 
there is no reference in any well established account of 
anything like fire-worship, a form that seems to have 
been Persian in -its origin. 

In support of the theory of Indian origin, reference is 
sometimes made to a letter said to have been written by 
the commander of Fort Du Quesne (Pittsburgh) to Gen. 
Montcalm, describing a grand scene of fire worship on 
the banks of Oil creek, where the whole surface of the 
creek, being coated with oil, was set on fire, producing 
in the night season a wonderful conflagration. But 
there is room for the suspicion that this account is apo- 
chryphal. Such scenes as are there described have been 
witnessed on Oil creek since the beginning of the modern 
oil trade. During the continuance of several accidental 
conflagrations, the scene has been awfully grand and 
impressive. It has been strongly suggestive of the con- 
flagration of the last day, when 

"The lightnings, barbed, red with wrath, 
Sent from the quiver of Omnipotence, 
Cross and recross the fiery gloom, and burn 
Into the centre; — burn without, within, 
, And help the native fires which God awoke, 

And kindled with the fury of his wrath." 

But these terrific scenes were when hundreds of barrels 
of. oil had been stored up in tanks, and when the com- 
bustible fluid was spouting from the wells, mingled with 
columns of gas, at the rate of many hundred barrels per 
day. Before the. present deep wells were bored, oil was 
not produced in sufficient quantities to cause such a con- 



CORNPLANTER. 53 

flagration, and previous to the date of modern oil opera- 
tions, there was never seen upon the creek a stratum of 
oil of sufficient consistency to be inflammable. 

The remains of the once powerful confederacy of Indi- 
ans known as the " Six Nations" still linger in Western 
Pennsylvania, in a region not very remote from Oil 
creek, and at the time this region was settled by the 
present inhabitants were found in great numbers, but 
they can throw no light upon the origin of these pits. 
In regard to their history they can give no more infor- 
mation than they can concerning the mounds and fortifi- 
cations, ruined castles and dismantled cities, that tell us 
of a once glorious past, of a mysterious decadence, and 
of the utter vanity of all merely earthly glory. 

There are men still living in the oil valley who were 
on terms of familiar intimacy with Cornplanter, a cele- 
brated chief of the Senecas — the last of a noble and 
heroic line of chieftains that had borne sway from the 
Canadas to the Mississippi, — and who was living at 
the time of the French occupation of the country. He 
had been in his time a mighty man of war — was born 
about 1735 — was with the French and Indians at 
Braddock's defeat in 1755 — at the "Wyoming massacre ; 
but afterwards became the friend of the white man. 
His home during the last years of his life was on the 
Allegheny, about seventy miles above Franklin. Here 
he died in the year 1840 or 1841, at the age of about 
one hundred and five years. Cornplanter, although 
allied to the white race, and having their blood in his 
veins, was essentially an Indian in all his feelings and 
instincts. He was an eloquent orator, a shrewd tacti- 
cian, a bold warrior, and possessed the entire confidence 
of his own people. He was one of the great men of the 
5* 



54 GREAT ANTIQUITY. 

dusky races that are now so rapidly passing away. For 
nearly a century he had had intercourse with the chiefs 
and braves of different tribes, and was well versed in 
their traditionary lore; but in reciting his own deeds 
and memories, and those of his fathers who had gone to 
the silent hunting grounds of the spirit land, he could 
say nothing of early oil operations, any further than the 
collection of it in small quantities for medicinal or orna- 
mental purposes. Of French operations on Oil creek he 
could say nothing, and on the origin of these pits he 
could throw no light. This would be inexplicable on 
the theory that they were due either to French or Indian 
labor. And finally these ruins presented the same 
appearance precisely to the early settlers, who appeared 
amid these scenes seventy years ago, that they do now. 
They appeared as ancient then as now — the same traces 
of a bygone age, the rounded outline, the absence of any 
recent traces of labor, the luxuriant growth of timber on 
the pits, and on the ridges that separated them — there 
has been little change. 

The only rational conclusion, therefore, at which we 
can arrive in regard to these early oil operations is, that 
they are due, not to the Indians, or French, or early 
white settlers, but to some primitive dwellers on the 
soil, who have long since passed away, leaving no written 
records to tell of their origin or their history, but stamp- 
ing the impress of their existence on our mountains and 
in our valleys, assuring us of their power and the mag- 
nificence of their operations, yet leaving us to wonder 
that such strength could fail, that such magnificence 
could perish, and that such darkness could settle over 
the memory of a great people. 

There are such remains of antiquity scattered all over 



MOUND-BUILDERS. 55 

this continent; sometimes they are of a military char- 
acter, sometimes of a peaceful nature. In all the ordi- 
nary trees of the forest are found growing upon and 
around them, apparently of the same kind and of the 
same age as those found in the unbroken forest. We 
can ascribe them all to the same age and the same 
origin — the age an indefinite one; the origin, a race of 
people who, for want of a better name, are sometimes 
called "mound-builders." 



CHAPTER V. 

MODERN WAY OF COLLECTING OIL. 

As before intimated, petroleum was found in Venango 
county by the earliest white settlers, and was esteemed 
for its medical properties. But it was found only in 
minute quantities. It was found in particular localities 
along Oil creek, in the town of Franklin, and other 
places along the banks of the Allegheny, just where 
there happened to be fissures in the rock permitting it 
to escape. It would be found issuing with the w T ater 
from springs, sometimes bubbling up from the bottom 
of the river in small globules, that, rising to the surface, 
disperse themselves upon the water and glide away in 
silent beauty. Many such indications were seen in the 
creeks and rivers. A drop of oil would escape from the 
rocks or gravel beneath, and, accompanied by its gaseous 
attendant, would appear like an air-bubble until it 



56 MODERN OIL PITS. 

reached the top, when a beautiful surface would be 
presented on the water, reflecting all the colors of the 
rainbow. These hints had been indicating the presence 
of the immense treasure house beneath for ages, yet no 
wild dreamer seized the idea, for the time had not yet 
arrived for the revelation and the use. 

Many families drew their supply from little springs 
of water on the river bank, contiguous to their dwellings. 
This was done by simply damming up the little spring 
and skimming the oil from the surface when a thin 
stratum had accumulated. But the principal oil spring, 
or that from which the largest quantity of petroleum 
was collected, was located on Oil creek, about two miles 
from its mouth. This was on the " McClintock Farm," 
so much celebrated in the history of modern petroleum 
operations, and whose possession at the present time 
would be equal to the patrimony of the great " king- 
maker," the last of the Barons. From this point the 
main supply was drawn for the wants of the earlier 
inhabitants. And as the demand was limited, no great 
amount of enterprise was called forth in its production. 
The capital invested was small, the labor demanded in 
carrying it on was limited in its amount, the modus 
operandi was most primitive, and yet, withal, the results 
were satisfactory. 

A point was selected where the oil appeared to bubble 
up most freely, when a pit was excavated to the depth 
of two or three feet. Sometimes this pit was rudely 
walled up, sometimes not. Sometimes it was near the 
edge of the water on the bank of the stream, sometimes 
in the bed of the stream itself, advantage being taken 
of a time of low water. In these pits the oil and water 
would collect together, until a stratum of the former 



BLANKET PROCESS — FIRST SHIPMENT. 57 

would form upon the surface of the latter, when a coarse 
blanket or piece of flannel was thrown in. This blanket 
soon became saturated with oil, but rejected the water. 
The blanket was then taken out, wrung into a tub or 
barrel, and the operation repeated. 

But the people of that day knew nothing of oil excite- 
ments. There was little consumption. The demand 
was limited. It was always a drug, in the figurative 
sense, in the market. Most families through the country 
kept a supply for their own use; yet for all ordinary 
purposes, a pint bottle was sufficient for a year's con- 
sumption. Every good housewife was supposed to have 
a small store of " Seneca Oil," as it was popularly called, 
laid by in case of accident, for the medication of cuts, and 
bruises, and burns ; and not even the most popular of the 
•nostrums of the present day is so much relied on as was 
^his — Nature's own medicine — by the earlier settlers in 
those valleys. It was carried abroad in small bottles to 
distant neighborhoods, as a sovereign remedy for 

" The thousand natural shocks, 

That flesh is heir to," 

until eventually it was purchased by the druggists, put 
up in small vials and labeled sometimes " British Oil," 
sometimes " American Oil," or " Rock Oil," according to 
the popularity of the terms at the time and place. 

The first shipment of petroleum was to Pittsburgh, 
and on this wise. Mr. Cary, one of the first settlers on 
Oil creek, possessing perhaps a little more enterprise 
than his neighbors, would collect or purchase a cargo 
of oil and proceed to Pittsburgh, and exchange it for 
commodities needed in his family. This cargo consisted 
of two lave gallon kegs, that were slung one on each 



58 YANKEE ENTERPRISE. 

side of a horse, and thus conveyed by land a distance 
of seventy or eighty miles. It was a small beginning, 
but "tall oaks from little acorns grow." The little one 
has become a thousand. From the same region are 
shipped now about thirnteen thousand barrels per day. 

Sometimes the market in Pittsburgh became very 
dull, for a flatboatman would occasionally introduce a 
barrel or two at once, that he had brought down on 
his raft of lumber or logs. At other times the demand 
fell off, so that the purchase of a barrel was hazardous. 
On one of these latter occasions, a Yankee having taken 
down a small quantity, and not finding a purchaser, 
employed a friend to go around the druggists in the 
evening and inquire for Seneca Oil, and manifest a 
strong anxiety to obtain it. The result was, that on 
calling the next morning, the Yankee found a ready 
sale for his stock on hand. 

At a period somewhat later than this, General 
Samuel Hays, who settled here in 1803, relates that 
at one time he purchased all the oil produced in the 
country, and that the highest annual yield was six- 
teen barrels. This oil he sold at the time in Pittsburgh 
at about one dollar per gallon. 

In the meantime a well was bored on the bank of the 
Allegheny, near the mouth of Horse creek, twelve miles 
above Franklin, in quest of salt water, with the view 
of manufacturing salt. This was some forty years 
ago. After sinking the well through the solid rock to 
the distance of seventy or eighty feet, oil presented 
itself in such quantities, mingled with salt water, as 
to fill the miners with disgust, and induce them to 
abandon the well altogether. They were boring for 
salt, not petroleum. Salt was an article of utility 



WELL IN FRANKLIN. 59 

and large demand, and would be remunerative; oil 
was of comparatively small importance, and already 
a drug in the market through the spontaneous yield 
of nature, and so the well was abandoned as an in- 
tolerable nuisance. 

Another link in the chain : about thirty years ago 
a well was dug in the town of Franklin for the supply 
of a household with water. At the depth of about 
thirty feet, there were evident signs of petroleum. 
The supply soon became so great as to be annoying 
to the workmen, and by the time it was completed 
the clothing of the principal man engaged was so 
saturated with oil that he went to the creek to indulge 
in a bath, and, at the same time, send his oily clothing 
down the current as worthless. A hole has since been 
sunk through the rock in the bottom of this well, but 
the success has not been as good as in other wells in 
the neighborhood. The depth, however, was not as 
great as in some others. 

Another instance still is recorded on the opposite 
side of French creek. It was in constructing the lock 
for the Franklin canal. In the excavations that were 
made prior to commencing the masonry, there was the 
same trouble from the flow of petroleum. The masons 
were ignorant of the part this substance had played 
in the masonry of Babel and Babylon, and execrated 
it as a nuisance, and were almost ready to abandon the 
place in disgust. And in general, there were several 
wells in the neighborhood that bore a trace of oil both 
to the smell and taste, that was absolutely offensive 
to those unaccustomed to them. 

In all the cases cited above, were strong hints of the 
existence of the treasure concealed in the rocks beneath, 



60 STRONG HINTS. 

and even of the manner of obtaining it. The treasure 
was, in fact, knocking at the door, and asking to be 
released, in order to contribute to human enjoyment 
and wealth. But the time had not arrived for the en- 
joyment of this great boon, although it was approaching 
step by step. The earth was at first made the reposi- 
tory of all the gifts that man should need until the 
end of time, either in a perfect or crude form. But 
they were not all revealed at the first, nor to succeed- 
ing generations, until the fitting time arrived, and 
man's necessities, and the world's condition, induced 
the great Giver to unlock the treasure house, and dis- 
pense the rich bounty. 

Before man was created, the great store-house in the 
earth's bosom was filled with its minerals, and as the 
centuries rolled by, in their slow and solemn march, 
these treasures were gradually brought to light. Not 
at once did the earth disclose her mighty resources; 
but just as man needed them, and as they should tend 
to his own best interests, and the glory of the great 
Giver. Even on the banks of the river that watered the 
terrestial Paradise gold was found, yet, although " the 
gold in that locality was good," it was brought to light 
in limited quantities. In the same sacred locality, and 
at the same early day in the history of time, " the bdel- 
lium and onyx stone" were found in their beauty, yet 
w r ere they few and rare until God would consecrate the 
treasures of the earth to his own service in the con- 
struction and adornment of the Tabernacle and Temple. 
The great treasure house was then opened until gold 
became common as brass, and precious stones numerous 
almost as the pebbles of the brook, and the riches of 



GRADUAL ADVANCE, 61 

the earth, became eternally consecrated to the service 
of God. 

In the present century, and also within our own 
recollection, when the world's business seemed to be 
stagnated; when the sails of commerce flapped idly 
at the mast; when the great highways of trade and 
traffic were in danger of becoming deserted, and the 
coffers of the nation were almost exhausted, and fearful 
times of war and peril to the nation's life impending, 
Providence unlocked the golden treasures in our Western 
States and Territories, and every department of business 
has become prosperous, and every branch of industry 
received a new impetus. A new lesson has been taught 
the world : that God's treasures are inexhaustible, and 
that his hand can never be shortened. 

And now here, in this remote county of Western 
Pennsylvania, so humble and so poor in agricultural 
resources, God's treasure has bean concealed for age3, 
locked up in the "very heart of the eternal rock, await- 
ing the time of need, and accomplishment of the eternal 
purposes of Omnipotence. It has oozed forth, in limited 
quantities, during the lapse of centuries, as if to show 
us now, that man cannot lay his hand upon the house of 
God's treasures until his own appointed time. 

We know not where the great Chemist has his labora- 
tory, or where he formed the treasure ; most probably 
they were fashioned when the earth assumed its present 
form; and since "the morning stars" sang creation's 
hymn together, deep down amid earth's rocky caverns, 
through the revolving centuries, the stores have been 
accumulating that are destined to bless the world, and 
become elements of national wealth. 
, And now, from that great laboratory, through innu- 



62 IDEA SLOWLY DEVELOPED. 

merable channels, cut through the living rock by the 
Creator's hand, and by " paths which no fowl knoweth, 
and which the vulture's eye hath not seen," is that 
treasure brought to the earth's surface, just in our time 
of need. When other supplies are failing, and other 
resources giving way, we see God's wisdom manifested 
in opening up new channels. The great Benefactor 
would teach us that however straitened we may be, he is 
never confined, that his resources are unlimited, that for 
every emergency in our history there is provision made, 
and that our time of need is but the beginning of his 
overflowing bounty. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FIRST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 

It is really strange how slow men were to discover 
the abundance of this supply, and to trace it to its 
luxuriant deposit amid the rocks. While it was literally 
forcing itself upon their observation, it was only by a 
roundabout process they discovered its richness and 
importance. It had been hitherto used almost exclu- 
sively as a medicinal agent, but gradually necessity was 
forcing it into use as an illuminator under certain cir- 
cumstances. Above and around the oil valley the lum- 
ber business occupied the attention of many. In the 
saw mills work was often carried on at night, rendering 
artificial light necessary. Some practical sawyer re- 



VENANGO PHYSICIAN — BOLD THEORY. 63 

solved to try the experiment of burning Seneca Oil, as 
it was still called, in the mill. The mill being an open 
structure, the huge volume of smoke, that arose from 
the flame was no particular objection, and the light was 
tolerably satisfactory. Thus the pressure began to be 
applied to the idea, and the stimulus was having its 
effect. 

Perhaps the first real conception of the modern petro- 
leum business, had its origin in the mind of a young 
physician in the Venango region. It was certainly a 
natural one, yet withal original. Yet it w T as but a 
dream, and, like many another dream of the past, it was 
in advance of the age, and resulted in nothing but specu- 
lation. From boyhood he had been familiar with oil 
developments, as they have been described in these 
chapters, and now that a demand was increasing above 
the supply, his mind was attracted anew to the subject. 
In looking at the numerous slight veins of oil that oozed 
up along the bed of Oil creek and the Allegheny river, 
the thought occurred to him, that by tracing these little 
veins to their source the main artery might be reached. 
And as this tracing must be through the rock, the proper 
plan would be to bore down through it, until a large 
vein or perhaps the main artery w r as reached. Here 
was the whole modern oil business in a nutshell — the 
bud nicely rolled up in its folds that has developed into 
such a luxuriant flower. The process of reasoning was 
certainly professional, and, now that it has been tested, 
seems a very plain, simple idea. But it was like the 
theory of Columbus in regard to a new continent — ■ 
entirely too bold for the times, and was rejected as pure 
speculation. There was in this physician's theory but 
one link lacking in order to have anticipated the entire 



64 FAILURE TO PROFIT. 

scheme of oil production, as it was afterwards generally 
carried on. The idea did not suggest itself to him that 
the lands along the valley of Oil creek might be leased 
for oil purposes, and thus his embryo idea be carried out 
to his profit; he thought only of purchase. And as 
physicians in the oil valley at that time could not com- 
mand the capital that some of them can at the present, 
the scheme was abandoned, and the idea was lost as far as 
the bold originator was concerned. The idea, however, 
was a brilliant one, and entitles its author to be classed 
among the long line of those who have dreamed without 
realizing the vision, and who have sown valuable seed 
without reaping the harvest. Nor is this the only in- 
stance in which the bold thinker and the enterprising 
theorist have failed of entering upon the enjoyment of 
the substantial benefits. Those who have reaped the 
golden harvest, and gathered most freely the luxuriant 
sheaves now so thickly strewn throughout the oil valley, 
have generally been those who have entered second- 
hand upon the w T ork, and taken the places of earlier but 
less fortunate laborers. Many an old well, whose der- 
rick is now falling to decay, and underneath which lies 
buried, worthlessly to him, all the available means of 
many an honest, industrious farmer or mechanic through- 
out the land, will yet yield a golden harvest, when some 
person of capital shall have undertaken its thorough 
development. Many an honest, enterprising man, in 
traveling over the oil region, may say with the old Bard 
of Mantua, " Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves." 

As early as the year 1835, the presence of petroleum 
amid the rocks was made known on the Allegheny river, 
a short distance above Pittsburgh, by its interference 
with the salt wells, but no dream of its future impor- 



COAL OIL. 65 

tance seems to have forced itself upon either the miner 
or the capitalist until within the last few years. There 
is one notable instance of this fact. A salt well had 
been pumped for salt water for years, without the pre- 
sence of petroleum. With the intention of securing a 
greater supply of water, a larger tube was inserted and 
a more powerful engine applied, when, to the astonish- 
ment of the proprietor, in a day or two, petroleum in 
considerable quantity made its appearance. Perhaps 
many an operator in the oil region at the present time 
may take a hint from this idea that will be of practical 
importance. 

In the meantime, artificial oil had begun to be pro- 
duced in large quantities from different minerals, princi- 
pally, however, from cannel coal, by the process of 
destructive distillation. This oil was refined and de- 
odorized, and found to be a valuable illuminator. 
Cannel coal is found largely in Beaver county, in the 
western part of Pennsylvania; also in Butler and Ve- 
nango counties. It is peculiarly rich in oil, a single ton 
yielding by distillation forty gallons of oil. The process 
was carried on by placing the coal in huge iron retorts, 
inclined at a small angle to the horizon, and applying 
heat. About the year 1858, this business began to as- 
sume a vast and growing importance, and capital began 
to seek it out with great avidity. Cannel coal was in- 
quired for, and lands on which it was found rose rapidly 
in price. In Venango, near to the oil valley, it came to 
the recollection of a farmer, that, in digging a well for 
water, the workmen had come upon a singular stratum 
of laminated black rock. Its value was unknown, and 
the only purpose to which it had been applied was in 
the manufacture of covers for the good housewife's milk 
6* 



66 MORE SPECULATIONS. 

crocks. The new inquiries brought to light the fact that 
the strange substance was cannel coal, and the land was 
sold at a good price. 

A spirit of inquiry and investigation was excited. 
It was ascertained that this artificial oil, the product 
of distillation, was almost identical with the natural oil 
of the valleys — that the latter might be distilled and 
deodorized by the same processes as the other, and if 
found in sufficient quantities, be produced at less ex- 
pense, and become a source of comfort and wealth to the 
country. The manner of collecting the natural oil was 
thought over and discussed. The mode adopted in 
bygone ages was considered by many — that of excava- 
ting numerous oil pits and collecting with blankets ; but 
the process seemed tedious and expensive, and hardly 
remunerative; in addition to this, the finer portion of 
the oil was in danger of passing away by evaporation, 
owing to so large an extent of surface being exposed to 
the action of the atmosphere. As the earlier inhabitants 
had collected it this did not so much matter, the 
heavier portions of the oil being most desirable for their 
purposes; but as an illuminator, it was of the highest 
importance that the finer portions should be preserved 
as far as possible. 

The grand idea, however, was struggling towards the 
light. It could not be retarded. If oil, now so greatly 
desired, bubbled up through concealed clefts in the rocks, 
why might it not be found in large quantities by boring, 
in favorable localities, deep into the very rock that 
was conjectured to be its home? Why not storm the 
rock-bound castle, and at once seize upon the prize? 
And if discovered in some localities while boring for 
salt water, where there had been no outside manifesta- 



GEOEGE BISSELL — EVELETH. 67 

tions, why not expect to find it more certainly in locali- 
ties where such decided surface indications had always 
been found? 
4 This brings the matter down to 1853, w T hen a new 
feature w x as developed in the business, which gradually 
ripened into the present system of operation. It had its 
origin with George H. Bissell, Esq., a gentleman of great 
intelligence and worth, and a graduate of Dartmouth 
College, N. H. From Mr. Bissell's interest and enter- 
prise in the matter, he is justly considered to be the 
pioneer in the petroleum business. The inception of his 
interest seems to have been in this wise : Being shown a 
small vial of crude rock oil from Oil creek, gathered on 
the lands of Dr. Brewer, then of Titusville, he became 
greatly interested in the matter, and learning all he 
could of its locality and appearance, sent a young man 
to Oil creek to make an investigation. The report being 
favorable, Mr. Bissell determined to examine the subject 
more fully. 

About this time Mr. Eveleth joined Mr. Bissell in the 
enterprise, when they proceeded together to Oil creek. 
This was in 1854, and while there they purchased from 
"Brewer, Watson & Co.," for the sum of five thousand 
dollars, the territory where the principal oil springs 
were found, and also procured from the same company a 
lease of all their remaining lands in Venango county for 
ninety-nine years, without royalty. 

Operations were then commenced by digging pits and 
ditches, and pumping the oil and water into vats. This 
was done by water-power derived from a saw-mill. 

Soon after this a few barrels of petroleum were for- 
warded to Prof. Silliman, of Yale College, with directions 
to make a thorough analysis and examination of the oil, 



68 COLONEL DRAKE. 

with the view of ascertaining, as far as possible, its com- 
mercial uses and value ; furnishing him at the same time 
with all the necessary aids, particularly a photometer on 
an improved plan. After some months of labor and ex- 
periment, Prof. Silliman presented, as the result of his 
labors, a report, which was published by Eveleth & Bis- 
sell in 1855. 

They then organized a joint stock company in New 
York, under the style of the " Pennsylvania Eock Oil 
Company," but soon after this company was re-organized 
at New Haven under the same name, of which Prof. 
Silliman was elected President. Of this company, Eve- 
leth & Bissell, from first to last, continued to hold the 
controlling interest. Under its auspices the plan of 
ditching and pumping was continued until 1857, when 
various plans were submitted for further development, 
and the question of boring an artesian well generally 
advocated. The directors, however, were not harmo- 
nious. Finally some members of the Board submitted a 
written proposition to sink a well at their own expense, 
provided they could have a lease of forty-five years, the 
lessees paying the parent company twelve cents per 
gallon for all oil produced. This was agreed to, and the 
lessees selected Col. E. L. Drake, who had purchased a 
small interest in the stock, as their superintendent and 
agent. 

Soon after Col. Drake, furnished with all necessary 
funds, started for Titusville, two miles below which the 
springs were located. Operations were slow. There 
was neither experience nor the success of those who had 
succeeded before to assist. The Colonel should be re- 
commended to the proper authorities for a Brigadier, if 
not a Major-Generalship, for the nomination would surely 



PEESEVEEANCE UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 69 

be confirmed by a congress of oil men. This boring 
commenced near the upper oil springs, in the northern 
portion of Venango county. There was a great hope 
here, but it was a hope that required strong faith to 
keep it alive. Still the Superintendent hoped on, and 
the partners, Eveleth & Bissell, like earnest men that 
they were, continued undismayed by the difficulties that 
gathered around. It required strong courage to begin 
and continue the work. The very announcement of an 
intention of boring into the earth, or rather into the 
solid rock, was sufficient to provoke mirth and ridicule. 
The enterprise appeared to many quite as visionary as 
that of Noah did to the antediluvians, in building hia 
ark against an anticipated inundation. It was supposed 
by many that the object of search was salt water for the 
manufacture of salt. Occasionally a salt lick was found 
in the low lands, and this object appeared a natural one. 

However others might have thought, the -company 
and their agent thought only of finding Eock Oil, as 
it was generally called, with perhaps a shadow of a 
thought that if they failed in this salt might be found. 

It was like the inception and preparatory operation 
connected with all great and important works here — 
carried on amid struggles, and discouragement, and 
fears. There was the grand idea struggling to the light; 
there was the determined purpose developing itself; 
there was the new era just on the threshold, and the 
whole rested with one earnest, resolute heart. There 
was the pressure of the one great thought, that by some 
mysterious power had got possession of the man's heart, 
urging him forward, and likewise on the other hand 
there was the dread of failure, the fear of ridicule — the 
shadow that falls so heavily upon men's hearts from 



70 THE GOAL BEACHED. 

time to time, when in pursuit of some uncertain object — 
and these things kept up the struggle with greater or 
less power. It reminds us of grand old Martin Luther 
at the Diet of Worms, crying out, " Here I stand. 
I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen !" So 
all grand ideas are wrought out, and all grand purposes 
carried forward under the mysterious guidance of a 
power, that seems invincible in its operations. 

But the work went forward through good report and 
through evil report, particularly the latter, in spite of 
all difficulties, and in face of all obstacles. Slowly, 
patiently, hopefully, did the steel chisel work its way 
through the hard rock, stroke by stroke, until August 
28th, 1859, when, at the depth of seventy feet, the drill 
suddenly sank into a cavity in the rock, and imme- 
diately there was evidence of the presence of oil in large 
quantities. The shout of the weary laborer, was like 
the cry of " Land ho!" among the weary disheartened 
mariners that accompanied Columbus to the Western 
World. And with more reason might that quiet, think- 
ing colonel, at that moment, have rushed through the 
neighborhood, crying " Eureka! Eureka!" than had the 
old Grecian Archimedes, at the solution of his mathe- 
matical problem, as he lay amid his quiet lucubrations 
in the baths. The goal had been reached at last. A 
pathway had been opened through the rocks, lead- 
ing, not to universal empire, but to realms of wealth 
hitherto unknown. Providence had literally forced on 
man's attention that which should fill many dwellings 
with light, and many hearts with gladness. 

Upon withdrawing the drill from the well, the oil 
and water rose nearly to the surface. The question was 
now to be tested whether the petroleum would present 



DREAMS OF WEALTH. 71 

itself in sufficient quantities to justify farther proceed- 
ings, or whether this was like many another dream, to 
vanish in darkness, or dissolve in tears. Perhaps, after 
all the labor, and anxiety, and hope deferred, the quest 
was like that of the treasure supposed to be hidden in 
the earth by pirates' hands, coming in sight only to 
vanish when within grasp. But the time of waiting 
was not long. The well was tubed, and, by the aid of 
a common hand-pump, yielded ten .barrels per day. 
The dream was realized ; the vision was fulfilled. 
Faith was rewarded. By means of a more powerful 
pump, worked by a small engine, the quantity was in- 
creased to forty barrels per day. The engine worked 
day and night, the supply was uninterrupted, and the 
question was considered settled. 

This oil well at once became the centre of attraction. 
It was visited by hundreds and thousands, all eager to 
see for themselves, and test by actual experiment the 
wondrous stories that had been related concerning its 
enormous yield, by counting, watch in hand, the seconds 
that elapsed during the yield of a single gallon. Oil 
at this time was worth one dollar per gallon, so that 
the fortune of this pioneer in the business was consid- 
ered settled, and impulsive men began to dream of an 
interest in this new source of wealth, and of purchasing 
shares in Colonel Drake's oil well, and from this the 
idea extended to the enterprise of boring other wells. 
The arithmetic employed was on this view; forty barrels 
per day were multiplied by three hundred working 
days in the year, making twelve thousand barrels per 
annum, and this multiplied by forty dollars per barrel 
footed up the handsome sum of four hundred and 
eighty thousand dollars as the annual yield of the well. 



72 EXCITEMENT. 

It might be added here, that the arithmetic and the facts 
did not agree, as the experience of oil men since will 
assert; but the matter looked plausible enough then. 
Nor was it strange that men's pulses quickened, and 
their hearts beat more rapidly than was their wont, at 
the apparent development of this new order of things. 

The work now commenced in earnest. A tide of 
speculators and operators began to set in toward the 
oil regions, which would have overpowered that of Cali- 
fornia or Australia in their palmiest days. Nor did the 
excitement stop at the valley of Oil creek. It extended 
down the Allegheny to Franklin, and up to Tideoute. 
It was soon felt up French creek, and the Two Mile 
run, and eventually down the ' Allegheny for several 
miles below Franklin. "Wells were sunk in all these 
localities, many of them yielding from two to forty 
barrels per day. Still the excitement was limited in its 
extent. It was long before it could make its influence 
felt in the Eastern cities. Capitalists there were slow 
to believe the marvellous stories that were told of the 
Venango oil regions, and kept aloof from the excite- 
ment. But it gradually worked its way eastward until 
Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, with the regions 
represented by them, were enlisted in the work. 

It need hardly be said here that on the successful issue 
of the attempt to find oil in the rock, the partners, 
Eveleth & Bissell, at once set out for the Oil creek 
region. For them the vision was realized, and fortune 
expanded in a long, brilliant vista before them. These 
gentlemen continued to identify themselves with the 
petroleum business together, until the death of Mr. 
Eveleth in 1863, since which time Mr.- Bissell has 
continued his connection with it, either alone or in com- 



PEICES OF LAND — LEASES. 73 

pany with other parties. It is a pleasant task, too, to 
chronicle the success of these gentlemen, not only in 
developing the business, but in reaping substantial fruits 
from their connection with it. 

The report of Professor Silliman referred to, is full 
and clear, yet, as he had nothing but the thick surface 
oil before him for examination, the result was somewhat 
different from what it would have been, had he been in 
possession of the light oil now found amid the rocks. 
Still he recommended it as a most promising illuminator 
as well as lubricator. 



CHAPTER VII. 



MODE OF PROCEDURE. 



The age of Petroleum had fairly dawned. The 
fortune of the valley of Oil creek was now settled, 
and the price of lands throughout its whole extent, 
from the new well to the Allegheny, immediately rose 
to a very high figure. Sometimes entire farms were 
sold, but generally they were leased in very small lots. 
The terms of lease were at first easy, the operators giving 
one-fourth or one-fifth of the oil as a royalty to the 
owner of the soil. Gradually the terms became more 
exacting, until not unfrequently one-half and even five- 
eighths of the oil was demanded, with the addition of a 
considerable sum of money as a bonus. Sometimes the 
proprietor of the soil required the proposed operator 
7 



74 MONOPOLY OF LEASES. 

to furnish him his share in barrels ; that is, not only- 
turning him over a third or a half of the oil, but 
furnishing him the barrels to contain it. With this 
arrangement, it afterwards come about that as the 
price of oil fell and the price of barrels advanced, 
the entire proceeds of some wells would hardly pur- 
chase barrels to contain the royalty share pertaining to 
the owner of the land. The consequence was, that 
all such wells were either closed, or the leases modified 
so as to be adapted to the new order of things. 

These leases were usually drawn for an indefinite 
time, but required the lessee to commence operations 
by a certain time, and to prosecute the same with a 
reasonable amount of diligence, either to success or 
abandonment ; and generally there was a clause to the 
effect that if petroleum was not found in paying quanti- 
ties within one year from date of covenant, then the 
lease was forfeited, and the full control of the land 
reverted to the owner. 

This matter of leasing land for oil purposes, at one 
time, amounted to a monopoly in some sections of the 
oil valley. The landholders in many places were men 
in very moderate circumstances. By great frugality, 
they had been able to live comfortably, but had no 
extra means with which to embark in speculations. 
Sometimes they had neither taste nor energy for this 
business, or lacked faith in the general result, but were 
willing that others should embark in the business by 
sharing the profits with them. There was no risk to 
the landholders, and the profit might be considerable. 
In this state of affairs shrewd and enterprising indi- 
viduals made a business, for a time, of leasing all the 
lands in certain localities, with no intention of operating 



LAKGE COMPANIES — SMALL CAPITAL. 75 

themselves, but with the design of sub-leasing to real 
operators. Sometimes these lands were leased in bulk 
for one-eighth or even a tenth as the share of the pro- 
prietor of the land, without any bonus ; and afterwards 
sub-leased in small quantities, receiving one-third or 
one-half the product with a handsome bonus in addition. 

In the earlier stages of the oil business, operations 
were usually carried on by large companies. By many 
it was considered much as an experiment, and many 
were unwilling to invest, save in small amounts. Others, 
who had but little to invest, thought they saw in these 
companies a mode of securing large profits in return for 
their small investments. The manner of forming and 
carrying on these companies was simple and primitive. 
It was, perhaps, really a partnership for the transaction 
of business, but was hardly so considered by many at 
the time. A few brief articles were drawn up, officers 
appointed, and a lease secured. Sometimes a member 
or two of the company were appointed to carry on the 
work. Sometimes it was given out by contract. Assess- 
ments were laid upon the members just as funds were 
required to carry on the work, and generally with the 
understanding that when these assessments were not 
paid within a reasonable time, the standing of the member 
so neglecting or refusing should be forfeited, together 
with any previous assessments he might have paid. 

The first company organized at Franklin consisted of 
fifty members, the second of forty, the third of fifty-one ; 
and the general assessments were ten dollars upon each 
member at a time. In those early days a well could be 
sunk as deep as was supposed necessary to settle the 
question of success or failure, for about one thousand 
dollars, the implements for boring and pumping costing 



76 INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY. 

one thousand dollars more; so that the risk was not 
very great, even if the prospect of a large fortune was 
not particularly brilliant. 

These companies, at the first stages of proceedings, 
were not chartered, nor had they any authority of law 
for holding or transferring real estate, any farther than 
as simple partnerships for the transaction of business. 
Each individual member of a company was, of course, 
responsible for the debts of the whole concern, should 
the creditor demand it at his hands. And as the hunter 
always aims at the finest deer in the herd, if he has but 
a single shot, creditors usually made use of the same 
discrimination in serving their processes. As many 
of these companies, after a single partial experiment, 
disbanded with debts of various kinds, the matter often 
became exceedingly embarrassing to certain members of 
the disbanded association who lived near the site. Many 
an individual who had never in his life been visited by 
an officer, had that privilege accorded him, together with 
that of paying the debts of the defunct association. 

Such companies are now usually organized under the 
laws of Pennsylvania (Purdon's Digest), receiving a 
charter, conferring upon them certain rights and privi- 
leges, and restricting them to certain courses of proce- 
dure. 

These large companies, in one respect, did a good 
work, and in others were damaging to the general in- 
terests of the business. As to the first, they assisted in 
developing territory that was doubtful, and getting up 
an interest in neighborhoods that had not been even 
partially explored, thus attracting the attention of capi- 
talists from other places, who had the means and the 
energy to explore fully and satisfactorily. Their opera- 



ABANDONED WELLS. 77 

tions were like the firing of the skirmish line, that 
reveals the location and attracts attention to the coming 
battle. 

Yet, after all, it is doubtful whether these large com- 
panies did not do more harm than good, as far as the 
general result was concerned. They were most generally 
unsuccessful. There were too many proprietors. Too 
many pilots were on board the ship, and among them 
all, each one of whom was part owner, the ship was 
almost sure to be driven on shore or wrecked amid the 
breakers. One and another would decline paying fur- 
ther assessments, until a feeling of discouragement would 
settle down upon the company and paralyze their efforts. 

Again, among so many there was no one having a 
sufficiently strong interest to urge the matter along 
vigorously and hopefully, and, in addition to all, the 
matter was carried on with great extravagance. A 
small outlay would be but little to each one of fifty 
members, but at ihe last the aggregate was sufficient to 
preclude the idea of dividends, even when successful in 
developing petroleum. 

The result was, that all over the territory operated by 
these large companies, oil derricks were to be seen fall- 
ing to decay, fragments of masonry testifying that en- 
gines had once been used there, but now removed, the 
ruins of oil tanks and other fixtures pertaining to the 
business of collecting petroleum, rendering the scene 
desolate and in the highest degree discouraging, save to 
the shrewd and experienced operator. To most persons 
it was uninviting, and to many repulsive, for those ruins, 
or " dry wells" as they were termed, were like so many 
stranded, dismantled ships on an iron-bound coast ; they 
7* 



78 SERIOUS LOSSES. 

warned all voyagers to be on the alert, and avoid the 
fate of those who had preceded them. 

After this, there was another feature attending early 
oil operations that was equally disastrous, at least to 
those engaged. Entertaining the idea already alluded 
to, that a certain sum, and that not a large one, would 
be sufficient to develop a well, many persons of small 
means undertook the work, sometimes singly, sometimes 
in connection with one or two neighbors. They calcu- 
lated only on a single experiment, and their whole avail- 
able means were staked upon a single well, and this 
perhaps not more than three hundred feet deep. The 
work was commenced hopefully, and carried on heroi- 
cally for weeks and even months, as wells were not 
bored so rapidly then as now. Funds would begin to 
get low, courage would begin to fail, and still no oil 
beyond mere surface appearances. Here was a quan- 
dary. All the available resources of the man or the 
little company were down in the crevices of the rocks, 
with nothing in return. Sometimes in this state of 
affairs the work was abandoned, the lease forfeited, and 
the loss sustained with the best philosophy that could be 
brought to bear in the case. Sometimes the "claim" 
sold to parties possessing more capital, and blessed 
with greater resources, and in their hands became a de- 
cided success. Instances are known where wells have 
been laboriously put down until means and faith both 
becoming exhausted, the enterprise was sold for a trifle, 
and in the new hands soon produced a tremendous 
fortune. 

There was another reason for some of these serious 
losses to the early operators. At one period the pump- 
ing wells were all comparatively of small capacity, from 



EFFECTS OF FLOWING WELLS. 79 

two or three up to thirty or forty barrels per day. In 
many sections not more than eight or ten barrels were 
expected under the most favorable circumstances. This 
yield, when petroleum sold for half a dollar per gallon, 
would be remunerative and encouraging. But the new 
feature of flowing wells to be described in a succeeding 
chapter, changed the whole face of the oil trade, and, for 
a time, deranged all the plans that had hitherto worked 
so well. A mighty deluge of petroleum was at once 
thrown upon the market, bringing down the price to a 
merely nominal figure. A panic seized the smaller in- 
stitutions, and operations were suddenly arrested. Ope- 
rators who had hoped to open a well yielding from three 
to ten barrels per day, thought they saw the futility of 
farther operations, suspended work, removed their ma- 
chinery, and abandoned their leases to the owner of the 
soil. Many an eager operator returned to his home a 
sadder if not a wiser man, after such experience as this, 
having expended possibly the surplus of his earnings on 
his farm or in his shop the year before, in addition to 
the actual labor on his oil well. 

There are many instances, too, where losses more pro- 
voking still attended this new development in oil opera- 
tions. Wells that had already proved a success under 
the old order of things, yielding perhaps two to six 
barrels per day, and profitable when owned by one 
person, or a small company whose aspirations were not 
extravagant, become suddenly worthless. With oil at 
five cents per gallon, pumping would be ruinous. The 
consequence was, that all small wells were immediately 
closed. Many of this description were incontinently 
abandoned, the chamber and engine removed, and the 
lease suffered forfeiture. Some of the more shrewd and 



80 PATIENT WAITING REWARDED. 

calculating operators of this description, thinking that 
the new order of things would change, clung tenaciously 
to their modest little wells, and " determined to fight it 
out on this line, though it should require all summer." 
In some cases a modification or renewal of the lease was 
obtained, permitting the holder to rest until the storm 
should be overpast ; and, in others, the well was pumped 
occasionally for a short time, in this way preventing the 
forfeiture of the lease. 

The storm did expend its fury after a while, and those 
small wells are once more "paying institutions." The 
patient waiting of the small operator has been rewarded 
by finding his well, if yielding " heavy" oil, once more 
bringing him a dollar per gallon. But in the great 
majority of instances, those small yielding wells have 
gone into the possession of capitalists, and assisted to 
swell the mighty monopoly that is spreading itself over 
the oil region. 

Large numbers of those abandoned wells and forfeited 
leases, are still, no doubt, biding their time ; not await- 
ing further operations at the hands of their original 
projectors, but other and more fortunate operators. 
They are scattered over a large extent of territory, on 
every stream and in almost every valley throughout the 
oil regions. As a general thing they are avoided by 
persons seeking a location for wells, from the general 
impression that they are failures as oil wells. But this 
is not necessarily, nor will it be ultimately found gene- 
rally, the case, but from causes before explained. The 
territory has not perhaps been fully explored. The well 
was not deep enough perhaps to reach the oil-bearing 
strata. Perhaps in cases where the well was deep 
enough to expect success, only one experiment was tried, 



CHARACTER OF LANDS. 81 

or there may have been a defect in the mode of tubing 
and pumping. Some of the greatest instances of success 
have been with abandoned wells; and, no doubt, this 
will be the case in future. There is a wide field of 
operations for such enterprises in many portions of the 
country, where decaying derricks are now but the monu- 
ments of disappointed hopes. 

During the last two years there has been .a very great 
change in the manner of conducting oil operations. Large 
companies organized under the original plan, have dis- 
appeared almost entirely from the field. Parties pos- 
sessed of small capital are not often seen competing with 
those of larger resources, and, as a general thing, the 
whole business is undergoing the process of centraliza- 
tion that will perhaps assist in carrying the matter for- 
ward with more vigor and efficiency, if it be not attended 
by other consequences that will prove deleterious to 
local interests, and disastrous to the public welfare. 
This, however, remains to be seen. 

Lands along the oil valleys were not originally held 
at very high prices. For merely agricultural purposes, 
many portions were perhaps as valuable as the land 
throughout the country; although, in many instances, 
they were utterly worthless, being broken or lying in 
very narrow valleys between precipitous hills. The 
lands along the Allegheny river, and along Oil and 
French creeks, that had been brought into a state of 
cultivation, were probably worth from ten to twelve 
dollars per acre previous to the development of the 
petroleum business. In other cases, where the land 
was uncultivated, and scarcely susceptible of cultiva- 
tion, being of the character described by the pioneer, as 
"the more a person had the. poorer he was supposed to 



82 HIGH PRICES. 

be," the price could hardly be determined at all. In a 
few other cases still, the land had never been purchased 
from the State, being supposed utterly and incorrigibly 
worthless, and thus lying vacant. In this latter case 
the first individual who made the discovery of its orphan 
character located a warrant upon it, and for a trifle, 
embraced in charges, became the bona fide owner. These 
cases were rare, however, an 1 small in extent, being 
usually but slender fringes bordering the streams, and 
bounded by steep and rugged hills. But in some cases, 
at least, they have proved valuable oil territory. 

After the experiment of a general leasing of lands in 
the oil valleys had been in operation for some time, the 
original owners of the soil began to yield to what they 
considered tempting offers, and disposed of their lands. 
The prices paid, although considered large by the original 
proprietors, were very moderate when compared with 
the more modern rates. But as the business began to 
develop, prices increased, until the matter of speculating 
in oil lands has become a mania, and colossal fortunes 
have been made in this way. 

The usual way was to obtain the price at which an 
individual landholder was willing to sell, and then to offer 
a certain fixed amount for the " refusal" of the property 
for twenty, thirty, or sixty days, as the parties might 
agree. The money was paid, and if "party of the 
second part" came back within the limited time, and 
paid the full price agreed upon, the deed was made out, 
and the property was his. If he did not come up to 
time, the sale was null and void, and the forfeit money 
belonged to " the party of the first part." 

There purchasers were generally without capital ; 
their whole stock in trade being their enterprise, and 



WEALTHY FAEMEES — MILLIONAIEES, 83 

perseverance, and pursuit of the main chance. The con- 
firmation of the purchase generally depended on the 
ability to make a further sale to a third party, of course, 
at figures greatly enlarged and multiplied. These lands 
during the past year have generally found their way 
into the hands of joint stock companies, that have of 
late become grand and ponderous institutions as con- 
nected with the oil business. 

Many farmers, whose paternal acres were scattered 
along the oil valleys, have become suddenly wealthy. 
In former years they lived frugally and unostenta- 
tiously, and managed to make the product of each 
year supply its wants. They raised what grain was 
necessary for their own supply, and occasionally floated 
a raft down the Allegheny to Pittsburgh and the 
ports below, the product of which furnished them with 
other supplies. Thus the year rolled around, and there 
was no dream of future wealth. The riches of Venango 
county were supposed to be all developed. The last 
lingering castle had tumbled and vanished into thin air, 
as the iron business failed, and the last act of the drama 
was supposed to be on the stage. But many of the 
same farmers have become wealthy — some of them lite- 
rally millionaires. One plain, worthy man, who had 
been born and brought up on the farm on which he was 
residing at the time of the new era, has recently sold his 
little possessions for one hundred thousand dollars. 
Another, on whose lands the business has been more 
fully developed, is about selling for half a million, and 
still another, with rather more productive lands, has the 
offer of two millions. And these are real bona fide 
sales, and the investment would be a good one for any 
capital that is seeking a profitable resting place. 



84 CHOICE OF SITE. 

But money, like everything else, seems to have a value 
that is merely relative. Many of these plain farmers do 
not appear to regard these high figures with any more 
favor than they did smaller ones years ago. One thou- 
sand dollars seemed to them a large sum years ago ; one 
hundred thousand seems no larger now. It must be 
stated, for the credit of these men generally, that they 
have not been uplifted by the prosperity that has sud- 
denly rained down upon them. Some have gone to other 
localities and purchased farms, and settled quietly down 
upon them ; others are still in a transition state, and 
preparing for new changes. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PRELIMINARY TO BORING. 

In a popular cook-book there is this sage direction 
prefixed to a receipt for cooking a hare : — " First catch 
the hare." So in regard to the preliminaries to boring 
an oil well, the first thing is to obtain a site that will be 
at least promising. And in regard to this, taste and 
judgment are about the only guides. Doubtless there is 
something in the geological formation, but this, even to 
the scientific eye, is difficult to read. A broken and 
irregular formation of the rocks near the surface may be 
an indication of the condition of the rock far below ; yet 
even this broken appearance near the surface may be 
owin£ to accidental causes that have not affected the 



SURFACE INDICATIONS. 85 

underlying strata. On Pithole creek, where some new 
and almost startling developments have recently been 
made, the broken and shattered condition of the rocks 
would seem to be an index to the recent success. But 
this broken and fragmentary condition of the rock is not 
confined merely to the surface, as indicated by the pits 
and caverns that are found in its region, and from which 
the creek derives its name. It would appear, at least, 
to reach far down, and to be characteristic of that pecu- 
liar region. 

At first "surface appearances," or the presence of oil 
in springs, or oozing through the surface of the ground, 
or manifesting its presence in the streams, was supposed 
to be an almost infallible indication of success. But the 
presence of this surface oil is not always a sure criterion 
in deciding upon a location for a well. Oftentimes very 
fine wells have been opened in localities where no oil has 
been found on the surface, and no appearance of oil 
having been obtained at any previous time in the neigh- 
borhood. There have been no more decided successes, 
from boring into the very ancient pits on Oil creek, 
already alluded to, than in many other places. In fact, 
wells have been bored in the bottom of these pits with- 
out the slightest success ; whilst others, bored at a dis- 
tance from them, where there was no appearance of 
ancient operations, have met with complete success. 
At a point on the Allegheny, about two miles above 
Franklin, there was a well-known oil spring forty years 
ago. It supplied the family that lived near it, as well as 
the surrounding neighborhood, with petroleum for medi- 
cal and other purposes, to the extent of their wants. 
But for many years the supply has entirely failed. 
During a recent excavation, at the precise spot where it 
8 



86 KAVINES. 

was known to exist at the time alluded to, for the pur- 
pose of laying the abutment of a bridge, no trace of oil 
was found — not even a discoloration of the soil. Yet 
this may perhaps be accounted for from natural causes. 
The little cavities, or perhaps mere seams in the rock, 
may have become closed, or the feeble supply diverted 
into other and more attractive channels. The very fact 
that it was found in minute quantities is evidence that it 
found its way through a very small orifice, or that it had 
come a great distance from the larger caverns from 
which it had been supplied. 

In the earlier stages of operation, a ravine or sunken 
hollow, declining toward the river or creek, was generally 
selected as the best site, under the supposition, perhaps, 
that the character and appearance of the rock beneath was 
prefigured by the ground upon the surface. There is no 
doubt some geology in this, if not philosophy. But it is 
not a certain criterion. These ravines are generally not 
due to the force of circumstances beneath, but above. A 
stream of water may have originally worn the ravine 
for its bed, where now there is but the dry channel. 
Again, a stream of water or the efflux of a spring may 
have worn a furrow, or even a formidable ravine, as a 
channel for itself, where lormerly there was a smooth, 
level surface. 

Facts, too, are against this theory. In reality, facts 
have always proved themsetves mortal enemies to any 
theories that have been set up in regard to the oil de- 
velopments. Every operator could not obtain a ravine 
in which to plant his drill, because the applicants were 
numerous and the ravines limited in number. Many 
are obliged to content themselves with a smooth, level 
bit of ground *as the theatre of the operation that was to 



NEIGHBORING WELLS. 87 

render them, if not famous, at least wealthy. And in 
course of time it was found that the borer in the ravine, 
other things being equal, was no oftener successful than 
his neighbor. In fact, as theories have so frequently 
been shipwrecked and stranded in the progress of oil de- 
velopments, it may even prove that, within the limits of 
the oil basin, or, perhaps, better, within the limits of the 
oil-bearing rock, that wells bored on the table land will 
be found equally successful with those on the river and 
creek bottoms. A fact or two has loomed up lately that 
points mysteriously in this direction. 

In selecting a site, the proximity of neighboring wells 
has often been considered as of consequence. It is true 
one man's success is no great indication that his neighbor 
will succeed equally as well. Still it has its influence. 
Much more, the success of several in the same neighbor- 
hood will have a tendency to render a given piece of 
territory popular; it may, to a certain extent, demon- 
strate that in that particular region the strata beneath 
may be cavernous, and so the receptacle of the desired 
fluid to a greater extent than some other local ites ; 
but it is not infallible. A half-dozen wells may be 
yielding oil in a given locality, inducing the seventh comer 
to congratulate himself on the possession of a small 
piece of ground near by, or amongst the fortunate ones. 
But his drill may pass down, not into one of these 
unctuous caverns, but between them, and so go on down 
through the solid rock, until discouraged and disgusted 
he abandons the work. 

On the other hand, a new adventurer may be success- 
ful, where others have failed, simply because his drill 
has penetrated a vein, or cavity of oil, whilst those who 
have preceded him have passed the vein, and found un- 



88 BLACK SPIRITS AND WHITE. 

broken rock, until they considered the experiment fully 
tried. Besides new territory must be tested, and, in 
order to do this, there must be original navigators to 
open up the way. 

As a general thing, wells in the same neighborhood 
do not interfere with each other. There are exceptions 
to this, however, but they are not at present sufficiently 
numerous to interfere with the rule. In rare instances 
the same crevice in the rock may be running on the 
same line with two wells ; in such cases there may and 
will be an interference, unless the cavern or vein be 
sufficiently capacious to satisfy the demands of both. 
But in the great majority of instances the wells do not 
interfere, although not more than fifty feet asunder; 
so that fear need not enter into the calculation, when 
revolving the idea of locating a well in a given locality. 

But not content with natural laws and natural mani- 
festation, some seekers after the hidden wealth have 
resorted to supernatural means, and pretended super- 
natural agency. In their superstition and credulity 
they have invoked, 

" Black spirits and white, 
Blue spirits and gray," 

if not using the incantations and preparatory arrange- 
ments of the ancient sorceress, seeking, at least, to 
attain the same ends by more simple processes. Some 
have pretended to be in league with spirits who have 
pointed out to them the precise location where a suc- 
cessful well might be located, and even the depth to 
the luxuriant vein, that but awaited the tapping process, 
in order to a bountiful yield. But the spirits did not 
prove reliable. They were lying spirits, that led their 



HAZEL ROD. 89 

deluded votaries astray, or rather the persons that pro- 
fessed to have "familiar spirits" were impostors, or de- 
ceived, and so their devices and practices came to 
nought. 

There is a device that is sometimes resorted to, that 
may be mentioned for what it is worth, inasmuch as it 
has a small show of philosophy alleged in its favor. 
This is the use of the Hazel, or Peach tree rod, in order 
to point out the locality of the deposits of oil. It has 
been used by certain persons, " so long back that the 
memory of man runneth not to the contrary," in pursuit 
of water for the purpose of digging wells for domestic 
uses ; and has had its believers and defenders. 

The mode of procedure is to take a natural fork from 
the trees referred to, having its limbs of equal length 
and size, and to strip off the leaves, within an inch or two 
of the main stem. The extremities of these limbs are 
then grasped rather firmly in the closed hands with the 
backs downwards, being, at the same time, extended 
from the body. The supposition is that if there be oil 
underneath, the fork will revolve in the hands, having 
the two extremities for an axis ; if not it will re- 
main erect and immovable in the hands. The little 
bit of philosophy, and it is very small indeed, in the 
matter is, that there is a kind of magnetism by which 
the rod is disturbed and set in motion. 

This is the theory. It has its advocates. It is no 
new thing under the sun. "Works have been written on 
the subject, as applied to the discovery of minerals and 
mineral waters. It has had its advocates among scien- 
tific men in this country. " Silliman's Journal," cer- 
tainly no mean authority in matters of science, pub- 
lished an article setting forth reasons for adopting the 
8* 



90 LOW LANDS FIRST SOUGHT. 

theory, and citing facts in proof of its correctness. In 
the Venango oil regions, as well as in that of West Vir- 
ginia, it is asserted by candid men that very many 
instances are on record where rich wells have been indi- 
cated by this singular mode of manipulation. There 
may be philosophy in the theory, but it is difficult for 
the uninitiated to perceive it. Yet there are many 
things amid the hidden forces of nature that we cannot 
explain, and however strange they may seem to us, may 
not be safely discarded. 

" There are more things 'twixt heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamed of in your philosophy." 

Still if we had any advice to offer, it would be, not to 
trust too implicitly to the hazel tree theory, unless the 
site had other claims upon the attention. 

In the earlier stages of oil operations the favorite 
locations, and, indeed, the only ones that were consid- 
ered worthy of attention, were along the river and 
creek bottoms, and near the water's edge. Perhaps 
the idea was a complex one, having reference in part to 
the notion that the oil-courses would correspond with 
the water-courses, and in part to the matter of conveni- 
ence in finding the rock near the surface of the earth, 
so requiring but little labor preliminary to boring. As 
to the first, it is an assumption altogether, that the 
rocky strata one hundred or a thousand feet beneath the 
surface is broken and cavernous, and adapted to the 
secretion of oil merely because an indentation has been 
worn in the soil to receive the current of a river or 
creek. It remains to be proved that the courses of 
streams are influenced in the slightest degree by the 
geological structure of the underlying rocky strata. 



VALUE OF LOW LANDS. 91 

It has been asserted, however, that just at the foot of 
the steep bluff, along the course of Oil creek, there has 
been more uniform success than along the edge of the 
creek, and near the water. 

It is very doubtful, too, about the correctness of the 
other branch of the idea, to wit : convenience in rinding 
the rock more readily accessible on the beds of the 
streams than on higher ground. This would be assum- 
ing that the rock strata is to be found on a level over 
the face of the country, and that the eminences and 
hills were heaped upon it in different thicknesses accord- 
ing as they rise above this supposed level. There can be 
no doubt but that this supposed level is purely imaginary ; 
nor can there be any doubt that many of the eminences 
of land are due to the upheaval of the rock beneath. 
Throughout the oil valleys, we find the rock cropping 
out from the sides of the hills, and rock too that 
possesses all the characteristics of that penetrated by 
the drill in the downward progress of boring. In the 
face of the steep, rocky bluff near Franklin, where an 
enterprising tradesman is excavating a cavern for the 
conservation and ripening of his " Lager Beer," the 
rock stratum appears mingled, and contorted, and inter- 
blended as though by some mighty convulsion of nature. 
The agency of heat, too, seems to have been superadded, 
as the material appears to have settled together from a 
plastic state. Still there is this slight advantage in 
selecting a site near the margin of the stream, that 
some of the superincumbent soil has generally been 
washed away by the action of the water. 

Within the last year or two less attention has been 
paid to the low land, and many even prefer a high 
location. Quite as good success has attended operations 



92 HIGH LANDS NOW SOUGHT. 

back from the water courses, and wells are continu ally- 
developing stores of wealth that have been bored some 
distance up the fa*ce of the hill. This is particularly 
the case along the valleys of Oil creek and Cherry run, 
where the strip of low land is narrow, and the terri- 
tory is limited in extent. In some places the hill side 
is dotted with derricks and engines, and this not alone 
in the operation of boring, but in actual pumping. 

The most startling development that has been made, 
in this phase of the question, has been on Pit Hole 
creek. A recent well has been opened that bids de- 
fiance to almost all the theories that have hitherto been 
promulgated. It is about six miles from the river, 
and on a piece of land that is at quite an elevation 
above the Allegheny. The well itself is of a less depth 
than the principal ones on Oil creek, and yet has pierced 
the fourth sand rock. Here is an argument in favor 
of high land as a site for boring; as well as proof that 
the surface of the country is no indication of the form 
of the underlying rock. 

The question of sites for wells, then, is one not easily 
settled. For there is a vast difference between an oil 
well and a hole in the rock. In the latter there may 
be salt water, and other minerals, but petroleum is the 
great matter in question. New territory must be de- 
veloped and new experiments tried, in order to enlarge 
the area of supply, and perhaps there are no general 
rules that can be laid down in the case. Proximity 
to other developed sites, is a matter that is not to 
be disregarded, and beyond this, strong faith, persistent 
effort, and a considerable amount of capital, are the best 
reasons on which to found hopes of success. 

There is this, however, in the selection of a site for 



BASE OF HILLS. 93 

boring a well: it would seem reasonable that near the 
base of the hills, rather than at a distance from them, 
a broken condition of rocks might be found beneath. 
If the hills be caused by upheaval of the strata under- 
neath, then, in all probability, the underlying rocks will 
be displaced and shattered, and left in a disjointed 
cavernous state. And this is the condition most favor- 
able to the secretion of oil. It is not at all likely that 
oil was formed near the surface of the earth, or where 
it is now found. It is formed elsewhere, and will gene- 
rally be found in hollows, and cavities, and even large 
caverns. Something analogous to this condition of the 
rocks is found near the shores of our Northern lakes, 
and in portions of the rivers where the water runs 
rapidly. When the ice has obtained considerable thick- 
ness it is broken by the waves or current, and thrown 
up in great ridges, over which the water dashes and 
freezes in an apparently compact mass. But on ex- 
amination it will be found to have an open structure 
with furrows, and crevices, and caverns. 

Such is, no doubt, the condition of the rocks near the 
base of the hills, particularly if these hills have been 
formed by upheaval. Practice has often proved the cor- 
rectness of this theory. 

Even if there be a failure in a favorite locality, it is 
no very serious ground of discouragement. An inexpe- 
rienced surgeon might thrust his lancet within a hair's 
breadth of the vein, and yet produce no blood ; still it 
would be no evidence that there was no blood in the 
patient's arm. So a well might be sunk within a few 
inches of a fine vein of oil, and yet fail of making any 
discovery. An instance may here be cited to illustrate 
this idea. A well was in process of completion. The 



94 EEGION TO BE EXPLORED. 

centre-bit had penetrated even below the region where 
oil was expected, with no tangible results. It was 
reamed out with the first reamer, with a similar result. 
But when the second reamer had passed down to the 
depth where oil had been expected, a copious vein of oil 
was opened, proving that the first reamer had passed 
along within an inch of the oil vein without disturbing 
it or giving any token of its presence. 

As to the subterranean region which is to be explored, 
we can know but little, any further than the sand-pump 
of the borer brings the secrets of its prison-house to light. 
It is a long way down amid the rocky deep that the drill 
must force its way, before it reaches the region where 
the great Chemist has stored his treasure to await the 
necessities of his creatures. And nothing but the per- 
sistent genius of man, and this genius under the force 
of great pressure, could bring this treasure to light. 

Usually there is, in this downward journey, a certain 
depth of earth to be passed through, varying from a few 
inches to fifty or sixty feet. After this a kind of gray 
or dark-colored shale or soap-stone, about two hundred 
and fifty feet in thickness, then a stratum of white sand- 
stone, then shale again. These two species of rock alter- 
nate, until, as far as has yet been explored, there are 
four different strata of each. The third and fourth 
sand rocks, as far as we can judge now, appear to be the 
true strata containing unmixed petroleum. 

This is the journey the drill must traverse through 
very hard rock, occasionally meeting on the way with a 
vein of fresh, but oftener salt, water ; now and then a 
small vein of oil, called by the workmen " a show of oil," 
until the work is completed, and terminates in success 
or failure. The work is carried on in darkness, and far 



DIFFICULTIES TO BE EXPECTED. 95 

from the direct observation of the workmen, and yet 
with more precision and certainty than are the ordinary 
operations of the mechanic who has his work directly 
under his eye. When the well is completed the punc- 
ture may be a thousand feet deep, through nearly solid 
rock, and yet its calibre is doubtless as smooth and 
straight as that of a finished cannon throughout its 
entire length. If it were otherwise the work would be 
useless, and, in fact, could not be carried forward for 
any great length of time. If the well deflected from a 
straight line, the long augur-stem w T ould soon become 
involved, and even if completed, the tubing could not 
be inserted. 

The operator must prepare himself for difficulties in 
his downward progress. " It is not always May" in the 
process of sinking an oil well, any more than in many 
other operations in life. There are an hundred sources 
of accident that may interfere with even the practised 
borer, that no skill can at all times circumvent. Be- 
sides, from the great demand for operatives in this 
line, many who have no practical knowledge of the 
business are obliged to undertake it. The boring imple- 
ments may break, the drill may become detached from 
the augur-stem, and be left hundreds of feet in the dark 
abodes beneath, or the whole weight of the implements 
may stick fast, defying every attempt to get them loose. 
Some of these difficulties are almost constantly staring 
the bold miner in the face, testing his courage, putting 
his coolness to the trial, and calling forth all his resources 
of ingenuity, and judgment, and mechanical skill. All 
these contingencies should be looked at and antici- 
pated, and even expected before the work is commenced. 
It is true, many a well is bored without any of these 



96 FACING DIFFICULTIES. 

accidents happening. The entire work occasionally pro- 
ceeds "merry as a marriage bell" to entire completion. 
So, sometimes, does a voyage across the ocean. But 
withal, the prudent sailor expects an occasional rough 
sea, and at times a fierce struggle w T ith the elements, and 
is not disheartened when these things meet him in his 
rough experience. 

There is another important consideration preparatory 
to boring — calculations must be made for total failure 
after all the toil and anxiety. There are more blossoms 
on the tree in spring than there will be fruit in autumn, 
and there are many more failures than successes even in 
the most promising portions of the oil region. An indi- 
vidual would hardly be justifiable in commencing with 
just sufficient capital to complete a single well, although 
it is not beyond the region of probability that the first 
well might be a perfect success. But, on the other hand, 
it might be a failure, and then all his hopes would be 
blighted. There would be more safety with capital suffi- 
cient to put down two wells ; yet even in this case there 
would be considerable hazard. But if there should be 
capital sufficient to put down from three to half a dozen 
wells, then one success would remunerate for all subse- 
quent failures, and leave a large margin of profit. The 
way to fortune through the oil regions, then, is not all 
plain sailing. There are difficulties and discouragements 
that must be met and endured. The two grand charac- 
teristics that warrant success are capital and perservering 
enterprise. With these success is certain, without them, 
failure is very probable. 



THE FIEST BORERS. 97 



CHAPTER IX. 



MODE OF BORING. 



We will suppose, then, that the^site has been selected, 
either by the divining rod, by the geological features 
of the country, mere whim, or necessity, no other site 
offering ; preparations are now made for boring the well. 
The little barque is to be launched that is to bear the 
operator to fortune or to shipwreck. 

The boring of oil wells has become quite an institution 
in the oil valley. The first operatives were usually old 
salt-borers, who brought with them a wonderful amount 
of pretension, and were, of course, fully impressed 
with the dignity and professional importance of their 
occupation. The boring of a hole down through the 
earth, a distance of five hundred or a thousand feet, was 
a very important and responsible business. It required 
time and "patience, as well as skill and judgment. Thus 
these old pioneers reasoned and acted. A few feet per 
day was all they expected, and were content with that. 
But soon a new set of men undertook the business, who 
run their drills with twice or thrice the rapidity of the 
pioneers, and made ten or fifteen feet daily in some 
varieties of rock. The old borers looked grave, shook 
their heads, and intimated that some dreadful calamity 



98 THE DERRICK. 

would ensue. The implements would break; the well 
would not be perpendicular nor cylindrical ; everything, 
in fact, would go wrong. But the new spirit that had 
gotten under way triumphed. No greater liability to 
accidents was manifested than under the sober system of 
the old salt-miners. In this case, as in others, the spirit 
of innovation could not be stayed. To resist it was like 
" damming up the Nile with bullrushes." And now, 
after five years, the spirit of innovation, and the attempt 
at improvement in the processes of producing petroleum, 
is as strong as ever. Sometimes it is successful, at other 
times, it meets with failure. 

The first thing now in order is the " derrick." This 
is a tall framework in the form of a truncated pyramid, 
about ten feet square at the bottom, and five at the top, 
having one of its four posts pierced with rounds at pro- 
per distances, to answer the purposes of a ladder, by 
means of which the workmen ascend and descend when 
necessary. The derrick is from thirty to forty feet in 
height, and has in the centre of its summit a pulley, by 
means of which the boring implements and chamber are 
drawn from the well. In fact, this pulley plays a most 
important part in all future operations, both in boring 
and pumping the well, should this latter process fortu- 
nately become necessary. In former years, the derrick 
was formed of four posts, sometimes rough as they came 
from the woods, sometimes hewn slightly, and connected 
together by as many cross-pieces as were necessary to 
give the structure strength and stability. Sometimes it 
was boarded up to furnish protection to the workmen, 
and at other times left open and uncomfortable. Lat- 
terly the derrick is made of plank, one and a half to two 
inches in thickness, spiked together at the corners, and 



DIGGING — CONDUCTOR. 99 

braced transversely, to secure the proper amount of 
strength. 

The derrick being finished, the next step is to com- 
mence the excavation, preparatory to boring. We will 
suppose that at the point selected, the underlying rock ia 
from twenty to sixty feet beneath the surface of the 
ground. The drilling operation cannot commence until 
the rock is reached, and all danger of the caving in of 
the surrounding earth entirely removed. The usual 
practice is to dig a pit within the derrick, about six feet 
square, until the operation is interrupted by reaching 
the water. When the remaining distance is but slight, 
a wooden " conductor," as it is called, is driven down to 
the rock, having its upper end a few inches above the 
floor of the derrick. This conductor is sometimes made 
square, of strong oak plank, banded together with iron ; 
sometimes it is a single log, bored after the manner of a 
pump-log. Through this conductor the boring is to 
proceed, as well as all future operations relating to 
pumping. 

If the distance to the rock is great, instead of this 
wooden conductor, a strong cast-iron pipe is driven down 
through the earth, by means of a battering ram, attached 
to the derrick. This pipe has a calibre of about six 
inches, with walls of one inch in thickness. It is pre- 
pared in joints of about ten feet in length, which are 
connected together at the point of contact by wrought 
iron bands, about eight inches in width. When one 
joint has been driven down to the surface of the ground, 
this connecting band is heated to redness, a new joint is 
applied, and as the band cools a firm, close joint is 
formed. The battering ram is again put in motion, and 
the work proceeds until the rock is reached. As the 



100 DRIVING PIPE — BOULDERS. 

blows are all in a perpendicular direction, the pipe 
usually goes down straight and in good condition. The 
derrick is now floored over, leaving the top of the pipe 
on a level with the floor, or an inch or two above it. 
The earth is then removed from the interior of the pipe, 
and the operation of boring is ready to be commenced. 

Occasionally, however, this driving operation is inter- 
rupted by coming upon a huge boulder, or even a thin 
stratum of rock. This circumstance may sometimes 
deceive the workmen, particularly if they be new to the 
business. Yet this is not often the case; for, as a 
general rule, there is considerable regularity in the 
depth of the rock beneath the surface, and this depth 
is usually well understood in particular localities, and 
the careful workman need not be deceived. When one 
of these circumstances occurs, and the pipe, in its down- 
ward descent, gives notice of having met with an un- 
wonted obstruction, the earth is removed from the 
inside of the pipe, and boring commences as though 
upon the real rock beneath. A hole is made through 
the boulder, or rock, nearly equal in size to the pipe 
itself, when the driving is resumed, and the pipe made 
to ream its way through the stone. Sometimes in these 
operations the pipe is broken, or driven out of its course. 
If it should descend upon the beveled side, or inclined 
face of the rock, it would most probably be forced out 
of a perpendicular direction, and the work would be 
effectually marred. When this is the case, the work 
must be abandoned, and a new location sought for, and 
the whole process commenced anew. Nor is it worth 
while to attempt saving the pipe that has been driven. 
It would resist successfully any attempt at drawing 



CABLE — BULL WHEEL. 101 

even by tie force of the engine, whilst the presence 
of water would preclude the idea of digging it out. 

If the workmen have been successful in driving the 
pipe safely to the rock, they are ready, after removing 
the earth and gravel from the pipe, to commence 
boring. The terms bore and boring are here used, 
because they are the popular ones. They are not strictly 
correct. Drilling would be a more correct word, as 
the process consists of a downward stroke from cutting 
and beating instruments, generally called bits. The 
operation, in obedience to popular use, will be here 
spoken of as boring. 

The first thing to be described in connection with the 
boring apparatus is the cable. This is of sea-grass, 
usually from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a 
half in diameter, and in length as many feet as it is 
proposed to continue the well; this, however, is not 
material, as if too short it may be spliced, and if too 
long what is not needed may remain uncoiled upon the 
wheel, to be used in the boring of deeper wells. 

One end of this cable is attached to the boring imple- 
ments ; it then passes over a pulley that is placed at the 
top of the derrick, exactly over the pipe leading to the 
well, after which it is coiled upon the shaft of the " bull 
'wheel." This wheel plays an important part in the 
operation. It consists of a shaft about eight feet in 
length, around which the cable is to be coiled as it is 
drawn from the well. It also has a drum-head at one 
end, about four and a half feet in diameter, that serves 
for a band wheel, by which it is attached to the engine. 
The wheel is rigged in a horizontal position to the two 
corner posts of the derrick next to the .engine. This 
portion of the machinery is used in removing the boring 
9* 



102 RODS — BORING IMPLEMENTS. 

implements from, and lowering them into the well. It 
afterwards serves the same purposes with the tubing 
when the well is to be pumped. In withdrawing the 
implements, direct power is applied, either by the hand 
or by an engine ; in returning them to the well a break 
is applied to prevent the descent from being too rapid. 

In the operation of boring, the cable is the instrument 
most generally used as an attachment to the implements, 
as it is more convenient than any other device. Some 
parties, however, prefer rods, similar to those hereafter 
described as sucker rods in the process of pumping; 
these rods are about twenty feet in length, connected 
together by a screw and socket. The stroke of the drill 
may be a little more accurate and regular than with the 
cable ; but the advantage is more than compensated in 
the use of the latter, by the ease and rapidity with 
which the implements are drawn out and returned to 
the well. In the use of rods, as each successive joint 
is drawn to the surface it must be unscrewed and set 
aside, until the whole are withdrawn. It is readily 
perceived that the disadvantage increases in proportion 
to the depth of the well. 

We come now to speak of the boring implements 
generally used. They do not differ materially from 
those formerly used in sinking Artesian wells. As a 
general thing, bits of two sizes are used, the first and 
smallest of which only has a cutting edge. This ia 
called the centre-bit. It is about three and half feet in 
length, with a shaft one and a half inches in diameter, 
terminating in a cutting edge from two and a half to 
three inches in width. This edge has an angle of about 
thirty degrees, and is, of course, of steel. Its upper 



CENTRE-BIT — REAMER. 



103 



end has a thread upon it by which it is screwed to the 
auger-stem when ready for use. 

The other bit is called a " reamer," and differs from 
the former in having a blunt instead of cutting edge. 
The reamer is about two and a half feet in length, 




CENTRE-BIT. 



with a shank two and a half inches in diameter, ter- 
minating in a blunt extremity from three and a half to 
four and a half inches wide by two inches in thick- 
ness. It is connected to the auger-stem in the same 
manner as the centre-bit. A large reamer weighs about 
fifty pounds. 



104 



AUGER-STEM. 



The auger-stem is a simple shaft generally about 
twenty or twenty-two feet in length, and about two 
and three-quarter inches in diameter. A section of it is 
seen in the engraving. It is designed by its weight to 
give power and force to the bits attached to it. 



AUGER STEM. 



Connected with this auger-stem above is an important 
arrangement called, technically, "jars," made of two 



JARS — TEMPER-SCREW. 



105 



elongated links, or loops of iron, hooking in each other, 
one connected to the auger-stem, the other to the cable 
above. This arrangement serves to jar the bit loose 
when it has a disposition to stick fast in the well. 
The operation is readily seen, as it is noticed that at 
each stroke of the bit in the well, the upper links in 
the jars may sink down a foot or more, and as the 
power is applied it rises against the upper end of the 
lower jar with a stroke like that of a sledge hammer, 
and thus will overbalance any ordinary disposition on 
the part of the bit to adhere to the walls of the well. 
To the upper end of the jars another 
bar of -iron, about six or eight feet in 
length, is attached called a " sinker." 
To the top of this the cable is attached 
by an arrangement called a "rope- 
socket/'as shown in the engraving. 

Thus far as to. the implements at the 
extremity of the cable, and that work in 
the well. Of course, as the work pro- 
ceeds, and the bits descend, the cable 
must be continually lengthened, and 
this in proportion to the rapidity of the 
work as modified by the nature of the 
rock. This operation is provided for by 
an arrangement called a "temper-screw." 
It is a simple screw with rather coarse 
threads with head downwards, and work- 
ing in a narrow iron frame that is at- 
tached above to the " walking-beam" of 
the engine. To the head of this screw is attached a trans- 
verse bar. of iron some four inches in length, that serves 
as a handle by which the cable is lengthened at the plea- 



ROPE SOCKET. 



106 



IRON CLAMP — POWER. 



sure of the workman. When the same is lowered to its 
entire length, it is detached from the cable, and screwed 
through the frame to its entire length, 
and is ready for operation again. To 
the lower end of this screw is attached 
a peculiar kind of iron clamp that 
embraces the rope, and, by means of 
a side screw, holds it firmly and 
securely. When the temper-screw is 
worked upwards through its frame, 
this clamp takes a new position on 
the rope, lengthening it by the length 
of the" screw. 

The entire weight of the imple- 
ments attached to the cable is from 
six to twelve hundred pounds. The 
motion is simply a perpendicular one, 
although the bit is constantly turn- 
ing. The power applied, whether by 
hand or engine, is applied to raising 
the bit, the cutting force is all im- 
parted by the weight of the imple- 
ments, falling, when relieved of the 
power that raises them, either in the 
downward spring of the pole, or the 
downward motion of the walking- 
beam of the engine. 

The power applied is now to be con- 
sidered. In the earlier stages of the business, it was very 
often that of two or three men working at a spring-pole ; 
at present it is universally a steam-engine. The spring- 
pole operation was a severe one on the workmen, and 
rather tedious; but for the first hundred feet operated 




TEMPER SCREW. 



SPRING-POLE. 107 

very well. The spring-pole consisted of a green sapling 
about forty feet in length and ten inches in diameter, 
with the butt end made fast in the ground, or attached 
to an upright pole ; a second post, ten or twelve feet 
from the butt, acted as a fulcrum, while the pole p'assed 
over the well, and about ten feet above it. The imple- 
ments of boring were attached to this pole, and the 
power adjusted near its smaller extremity. This was 
applied by the strength of two men bearing down upon 
the pole. Sometimes a small stage four feet square was 
hinged by one of its sides to the side of the derrick, 
and the other side suspended to the pole. In this case 
the two men stood upon the stage, and brought down 
the pole by throwing their weight upon the side attached 
to it, and permitted it to rise by throwing their weight 
on the side next the derrick. In either case the spring 
of the pole brought up the implements, whilst the 
motion of the pole downwards permitted the stroke. 
In boring by hand, the implements are not so heavy as 
those designed to be operated by an engine. 

Another mode of operation was sometimes used in 
the earlier stages of the business, in which a chain was 
used, causing the most unpleasant and outrageous 
clangor that can possibly be conceived. From its 
unpleasant and horrible noise and associations, it was 
called by the urchins the " chain-gang system." It was 
a laborious process, and a terror to the whole neighbor- 
hood where it was employed, and soon fell into disuse, 
much to the satisfaction of persons residing within half a 
mile of the scene of operations. 

There was still another system by which human 
muscle was brought into requisition. This was named 
by the same astute authority quoted above, the " kick- 



108 HORSE-POWER — WATER-POWER. 

ing pony system." A short, elastic ash pole, of ten feet 
in length, was arranged over the well, working over a 
fulcrum, to which was attached stirrups, in which two 
or three men placed each a foot, and by a kind of kick- 
ing process brought down the pole, and produced the 
motion necessary to work the bit. By this process the 
strokes were very rapid, generally making two in a 
second. It was adapted, however, only to shallow wells, 
and for a distance of an hundred feet or less answered a 
very good purpose. It, too, has been laid to rest, having 
performed its work. 

In many instances horse-power has been used to good 
purpose. It had this advantage certainly, that it re- 
lieved human muscle of much drudgery. There were 
different patterns of horse-powers. Sometimes one horse 
did the work, and sometimes two or three. In their 
general features they resembled the horse-powers of 
threshing machines, the horses walking around the 
centre, and over a kind of tumbling-shaft that afforded 
the perpendicular motion necessary to raise and depress 
the bit. 

Occasionally water-power has been used to advan- 
tage, both in boring and pumping. This is particu- 
larly the case in the neighborhood of water-power 
already established. A very simple machinery will en- 
able the borer to carry on his operations in connection 
with those already going forward. In the vicinity of 
small streams, too, a dam can be thrown across, and the 
water, that had else gone idly by, be pressed into the 
service, and made instrumental in relieving brawny arms 
of the severest drudgery. 

Still, all these processes, however useful in their time 
and way, have given place to the steam-engine. They 



STEAM-POWER. 109 

have done their work, and often did it well, and were 
adapted to the exigencies of the times. Men of small 
capital, and companies of small resources, were not able 
to purchase engines at the first; and, indeed, many of 
the first operations in boring were mere experiments, in- 
tended to develop the resources of the country, and it 
was thought hardly worthwhile to incur the expense 
of an engine on such slender expectations. In addition 
to this, no one, unless the veriest dreamer, supposed it 
would be necessary to go beyond one or two hundred feet. 

But all these arrangements have now been discarded, 
and the engine has taken their place. These engines 
vary in pattern, but the general principles are, of course, 
the same. The only material difference in form even, is, 
that some are stationary, being set in masonry, while 
others, and the largest portion, are portable. The first 
engine that was brought to Franklin for oil purposes was 
a portable one from the establishment of A. N. Wood & 
Co., of Eaton, Madison County, N. Y. This establish- 
ment was the first in the field, and amidst all the rivalry 
that has sprung up it has steadily held its own, and 
maintains its position. Other establishments are doing 
nobly, turning out the finest work, and manifesting a 
spirit of accommodation and interest in all that pertains 
to the prosperity of the oil region. 

The pioneer engine of Mr. Wood was a four horse 
portable one. It was then considered sufficiently power- 
ful for the purpose, but the experience of five years has 
shown that engines of from eight to ten horse-power are 
best adapted to the purpose ; particularly in pumping 
deep wells, where a vast amount of power is necessary 
to overcome all the obstacles in the way. 

In these portable concerns, the engine is built upon 
10 



110 POETABLE ENGINES. 

the side or top of the boiler, somewhat on the plan of a 
locomotive. Underneath the boiler are feet, that are 
screwed to a light wooden frame, and the whole appa- 
ratus can be readily transported from place to place, 
and set in operation as soon as it can be set level upon 
the ground. They occupy a very small space, too, as 
they are built on the tubular principle, and in a small 
space present a large amount of water surface to the 
action of the fire. Sometimes these engines are built 




WOOD'S PORTABLE STEAM-ENGINE. 



upon iron wheels, so that they can be transferred from 
one point to another without the trouble of putting them 
upon a wagon. This arrangement, however, must be 
rather suggestive of failures in boring to the workmen, 
as the sanguine oil man would prefer not moving his 
apparatus until actually worn out in the work of pump- 
ing oil. 

In adjusting the engine to the work assigned it, but 
little machinery is necessary. Sometimes a band-wheel, 



PORTABLE ENGINES. 



Ill 



c, with a crank, is geared to the engine, to which a 
pitman is attached, the upper end of which is attached 
to one extremity of the " walking-beam, a, while the 
boring implements are attached to the other. A rude 
house is erected for the engine, into which one end of 
the walking-beam extends to receive its attachment to 




SECTION OF A PUMPING WELL EXHIBITING THE APPARATUS. 



the engine. The other end of this walking-beam reaches 
into the derrick, d, a portion of which is shown, and ter- 
minates just over the well, raising and depressing the 
implements used in boring and pumping. 

The walking-beam itself is made of wood, generally 
sixteen or twenty feet in length, about one foot through 
in the middle, and diminishing gradually to the extre- 
mities. It is balanced upon a post eight or ten feet 



112 MODE OF OPERATING. 

in height, called a "Samson post" (b), and moves freely 
upon a pivot. The Samson post is set firmly in the 
ground, or framed into a horizontal beam that lies in the 
ground. 

We are now ready to commence the actual work of 
boring, having the iron pipe driven to the rock, the bit 
arranged and engine attached. The workman seats him- 
self just over the well, on a slight stool about three feet 
in height. The bit is let down through the pipe or con- 
ductor until it rests upon the rock. The rope attached 
to it passes over the pulley at the top of the derrick, 
immediately overhead, and descends and is coiled around 
the shaft of the bull- wheel. The end of the walking- 
beam in the derrick is now loosened, and the clamp of 
the temper-screw made fast to the rope, and the opera- 
tion is ready to commence. The throttle-valve of the 
engine is thrown open, the walking-beam begins its 
vibrations, the bit rises and falls, and there is that sharp, 
clinking sound so familiar to the workman in the first 
stages of the operation. The workman's hand rests upon 
the transverse iron handle attached to the temper-screw, 
just above the rope, and as it descends, turns the rope, 
and with it the bit or drill, partially around, so that 
each stroke of the bit on the rock beneath is slightly 
across the cut that preceded it. And so the work goes 
on in darkness and under, water, and still with great 
precision and certainty. 

After the operation has proceeded about two feet, the 
work begins to flag. The bit becomes dull, and the well 
begins to clog with sand; and in addition, the temper- 
screw has nearly run out, in lowering the rope for the 
advance of the drill. The clamp is now loosed from the 




a~ Rock Strata. 
6 — Earth's Crust. 
c — Samsok Post. 
d— Derrick. 
e— Bull AY heel. 
/—Walking Beam. 
-Temper Screw. 
h — Rope. 
i — Rope Socket. 
k— Jars. 
I — Augur Stem. 
in — Centre-bit. 



Section op a Well in process op boring. — Page 112. 



SAND-PUMP. 



113 



the rope, and by means of the bull-wheel, either by the 
instrumentality of human strength or attachment to the 
band-wheel of the engine, the implements are drawn 
from the well. The centre-bit is 
detached from the auger-stem, and 
one of the reamers attached in its 
stead. This reamer has a blunt 
face, and is perhaps one inch w r ider 
than the bit that preceded it. Its 
office is to enlarge the hole, by the 
sheer force of blows. After examin- 
ing carefully, to see that all the ar- 
rangements are in good condition, 
the reamer is lowered into the well, 
sinking by its own weight, and 
eased down by a break applied to 
the bull-wheel. The work is re- 
sumed. The fragments of rock that 
are cut and broken away descend 
to the bottom of the well in the 
form of sand. When the reamer 
has done its work it, too, is with- 
drawn, and the sand and water 
mingled into a batter is drawn out 
by means of the " sand-pump." 
This is a simple copper tube, about 
six feet in length, with a diameter 
a little less than that of the well, 
and furnished at the lower end with 
a simple valve opening upwards in 
the interior of the pump. At the 
top it is surmounted by an iron handle, to which a small 
rope is attached. At the bottom the sand-pump is 
10* 



SAND PUMP 



114 SHARPENING TOOLS. 

weighted with, lead, to assist in sinking, as well as in 
performing its work when below. The pump is let 
down by this rope, and when at the bottom is agitated 
by the hand of the workman for a few moments, when 
the sand is forced up through the valve, and thus 
drawn from the well. This operation is usually • re- 
peated once or twice, until nearly all the detritus is re- 
moved from the well. The operation is then continued 
by putting down the other reamer, and completing the 
work as far as it goes. Many workmen, however, use 
but one reamer, completing the work in this way that 
has been commenced with the centre-bit. 

The frequency with which the drill is drawn from 
the well depends on the nature of the rock. This 
operation is more frequent in hard sand-rock' than in 
shale or soap-stone; — in the former about every foot 
or two ; in the latter it can sometimes be run two and a 
half or three feet. 

The bit must frequently be sharpened or dressed. 
This is done nearly every time they are drawn from the 
well. Duplicates are usually provided, so that no 
detention may be necessary in the operation. This 
dressing is performed by the borer himself ; and as very 
few implements are necessary, a simple miniature smith- 
shop is connected with the well, containing a forge 
and bellows, with anvil and hammers. The centre-bit is 
sharpened without any very great care being taken as to 
preserving its exact size. But with the reamers the 
greatest care must be taken to preserve the exact width, 
else they would be liable to get fast in the well. To 
provide for this a gauge is used, by which they are 
brought to the exact size, pains being taken to apply the 
gauge, at the same temperature on each occasion. 



SURFACE WATER. 115 

In the matter of tempering great care is to be taken. 
If too soft, the bit will not be sufficient for the work ; 
the cutting edge will be turned, and the blunt surface 
battered and fail of accomplishing the object. On the 
other hand, if they are too hard the edge will be broken, 
and the reamer probably break and leave a portion of 
its steel in the well, to be a source of trouble and annoy- 
ance in carrying on the work. The practice of some, 
and their experience has been favorable to the plan, is 
to bring the bit, when properly dressed, to a fine cherry- 
red color, and then to plunge it in water until it ar- 
rives at the proper tinge of blue. The reamer having 
been brought to the same color in the fire, is suspend- 
ed by a rope over a bucket of water, permitting the face 
of the reamer to extend into the water about one-fourth 
of an inch, and suffering it to cool gradually. In this 
way the face or working portion of the bit is brought to 
the proper degree of hardness for the work assigned it, 
whilst the shank and part immediately adjoining the 
face are so annealed as to guard against fracture, in the 
repeated blows that accompany the operation of drilling. 

As a general rule, the well is full of water, almost 
to the surface of the ground.. This, at first, results 
from the surface water flowing in from above, and 
afterwards from small veins of water that are pierced on 
the way downwards. This water answers an admirable 
purpose in carrying on the work. Were it not for 
its presence, the sand and debris of the rock set free by 
the drill would clog at the bottom of the well, and be- 
come as hard almost as when in its original position; 
but the water reduces it to a fluid, muddy mixture, that 
permits the drill to reach the rock, and at the same time 



116 WATER VEINS — GAS. 

presents it in good condition to be taken up and with- 
drawn in the sand pump. 

In the journey through the rocks, there is not the 
monotony that might be supposed. Although it is a 
pathway through a sandy Sahara, yet, as in Africa, there 
is an occasional stream of water passed on the way, 
that adds variety to the work, and interest in its pro- 
gress. These water-veins are found at all distances from 
the surface, and in the sand rock as well as in the dark 
shale. Nor is this mere imagination. The workmen 
has the practical evidence. Sometimes, after having 
worked the usual length of time, and bored the usual 
distance, he withdraws his drill from the well, and, to 
his surprise, finds all the implements clean and bright 
as though carefully washed in clean water. On applying 
the sand pump, he finds neither sand nor muddy water 
as usual; indicating that a vein of water has been tapped 
that has carried away all the sand and mud that had 
accumulated in the two or three hours' work. As the 
work proceeds, veins of salt water are always met with. 
Not a well has been bored to the depth of two hundred 
feet without meeting with this saline rock, or, at least, 
veins of very strong salt water. What weight this fact 
may eventually have upon the theories as to the origin 
of petroleum cannot now be determined. The fact is 
plain as to its invariable presence in all boring opera- 
tions. In some wells bored in Franklin, old salt miners 
assert that the salt water thrown out from a two and a 
half inch tube would condense into thirty barrels of 
salt per day. 

During the progress of the work there is more or less 
carburetted hydrogen gas set free. This is first noticed 
in the sand pump, as it is brought to the surface with 



OIL VEINS. 117 

its deposit of sand. Minute globules rise to the surface, 
lively and sparkling, like ' a glass of soda water. Some- 
times this supply is so abundant as to cause an ebulli- 
tion on the water of the well at its surface, resembling 
the furious boiling of a pot. This exhibition of gas was 
formerly considered a very favorable indication of oil, 
yet is by no means infallible. Still the eager workman 
is always on the alert for accompanying symptoms, and 
a flow of gas, or better still a vein of oil is hailed with as 
much satisfaction as were the joints of cane and banana 
leaves, floating on the water, to Columbus and his crew, 
as they approached the shores of the new world. Yet 
many another navigator situated as Columbus was, 
would have given over the voyage when almost in sight 
of land, with all these indications of success ; or would 
have changed the course of his bark so as to have missed 
the land after all his anxiety and toil. So now many 
an oil seeker, with both gas and small veins of oil, 
wearies and becomes discouraged almost in reach of 
a fine vein of oil, as proved by the success of succeeding 
workmen in the same well; or perhaps more frequently 
he bores past the vein, leaving it but a few feet or inches 
to the right or left of his drill. 

In passing through these oil veins their presence is 
indicated by the oil rising in the sand-pump, and float- 
ing upon the surface of the well. Sometimes they con- 
tinue to manifest their presence while the work pro- 
gresses; sometimes they disappear altogether, as in 
cases where a large vein of water is passed that carries 
the oil with it from the well. In the earlier stages of 
the business, this " show of oil," as it is termed, was 
considered most favorable to ultimate success; but lat- 
terly it is not regarded as essential, as many first class 



118 MUD VEINS — DIFFERENT STRATA. 

wells have been discovered without the intermediate 
show ; and, on the other hand, there has been many a 
brilliant show that has resulted in failure and disap- 
pointment. 

A strange feature has been discovered in the process 
of deep boring, particularly in the Oil creek valley. 
This is what is termed a mud vein. It appears to be a 
thin stratum of mud or clay of a most tenacious charac- 
ter, very annoying to the workmen, and sometimes most 
disastrous in its influences upon his work. This stratum 
is found at a depth of about five hundred feet from the 
surface, and is usually about five inches in thickness. 

As the work advances, a register is kept by the judi- 
cious borer of the different strata passed through, and 
also of the veins of water and soil met with, in order to 
the formation of an intelligent judgment in the matter 
of tubing the well. This, it will be at once perceived, 
is of the utmost importance. If the well is a success, 
it will be necessary so to arrange the tubing that all 
the surface water, and that which proceeds from internal 
veins, shall be entirely excluded. It is likewise neces- 
sary that the point selected for shutting off the water 
from above be in the smooth solid rock, else the tubing 
will be imperfect, and pumping a failure. This point 
can be ascertained from the register. 

In connection with this register, samples of the rock 
at different depths are often preserved. This is done 
by putting a small part of the contents of the sand 
pump upon a board, and noting the depth from which 
it was obtained. In this way a tolerably clear opinion 
can be formed as to the nature of the different strata 
passed through. If it were possible to pass down by 
removing the rock in solid core, as has been proposed, 



DISCOURAGEMENTS — BREAKING DRILL. 119 

such an opinion could be much more correctly and 
intelligently formed. 

But, as might be readily supposed, this operation of 
descending a thousand feet amid the rock is not without 
its troubles and discouragements. There is many a 
" hill difficulty" on the journey that must be ascended, 
albeit the way is downward. Sometimes these difficul- 
ties are sufficient to appal the strongest heart, and wear 
out the most persistent energy. Sometimes they arise 
from want of caution in the workman at the rope, some- 
times from an imperfection in dressing and tempering 
the drill, and sometimes, perhaps oftenest, from circum- 
stances that can neither be foreseen nor avoided. 

Sometimes a bit breaks, leaving a piece of hardened 
steel deep in the recesses of the rock. When the frag- 
ment is small it is often beaten into the sides of the well, 
and disappears forever, without much annoyance. When 
it is larger the difficulty is great, for it may not be 
possible either to beat it to pieces or extract it from its 
bed. Sometimes the bit becomes detached from the 
auger-stem by reason of the loosening of the screw from 
its socket. This difficulty may be aggravated from the 
fact that the workmen may not be aware of the displace- 
ment, and for hours be beating upon it with the top of 
the auger-stem. When this happens various plans 
are adopted to extract the truant drill. Sometimes in 
a neighborhood as many tools accumulate, designed for 
such accidents, as there are instruments in a surgeon's 
office. There are persons, too, who get a reputation for 
such skill in extracting implements from wells, that 
they are sent for from considerable distances, and 
demand extravagant prices for their services. These 



120 FAST IN WELL. 

instruments are of various forms, at the lower ex- 
tremity; but are attached to the auger-stem or sinker 
in the same manner as the drill itself. If the bit is 
standing perpendicularly at the bottom of the well, 
the case is soon disposed of. An instrument with a 
spring socket is let down over it, which lays hold 
upon the protuberance, just below the thread, and 
brings it to the surface. If the drill has been beaten 
so that its upper end has been driven into the rock 
at the side of the well, the case becomes complicated; 
and some other remedy must be applied, and a different 
instrument adopted. Oftentimes weeks and months are 
consumed in trying different plans, and adopting dif- 
ferent remedies, until the patience and resources of the 
proprietor are exhausted, and the well is abandoned in 
despair. 

Again, the drill will sometimes get fast in the well 
without any displacement ; ordinarily this difficulty can 
be overcome by repeated blows through the medium of 
the jars. Lately a difficulty has arisen from the mud 
vein, already alluded to, that is in the highest degree 
annoying and perplexing to the borer. The mud 
will suddenly flow into the well, and settle around 
the drill almost as firmly as the rock itself. When 
boring on it or below it, the experienced workman, 
when about to withdraw his drill will have a hand at 
the bull wheel, and the instant the walking-beam ceases 
its motion a turn or two will be taken on the wheel so 
as to raise the bit above the mud, as it sets almost as 
quickly as plaster of Paris. Sometimes, however, this 
mud will flow in, and fill up the well for the depth of 
twenty feet, burying up the implements even above the 



NEW INVENTIONS. 121 

jars. This renders the jars useless as a propulsive 
power. The workman will now T resort to a desperate 
experiment. Attaching a knife-blade to a series of poles, 
he will manage to cut off the cable just above its 
attachment to the sinker, and, then withdrawing it, 
attach to the pole a spear-pointed instrument with 
which the clog around the implements is effectually 
probed, when an extra pair of jars are attached, and 
an effort made to jar the unfortunate tools from their 
place of burial. It is marvellous what success often 
attends the effort to extract tools that are often four 
or six hundred feet below the surface. But this success 
does not always crown the labors of the indefatigable 
borer. Occasionally, after spending almost as much 
time and labor as would suffice to bore a new well, 
disappointment attends every effort, and it must be 
abandoned at last. All over the oil region wells may 
be found that have been abandoned, leaving from fifty 
to nine hundred pounds of iron and steel deep in their 
rocky cells. 

As the workmen proceeds, usually the volume of gas 
increases as he approaches, what some denominate the 
" oil-bearing rock," but which, perhaps, might be more 
appropriately named the oil-surrounding rock. In the 
case of flowing w T ells, when the vein of petroleum is 
reached, thfe gas rushes forth with such violence, and 
the upward pressure is so furious as to force the imple- 
ments from the well, driving them through the derrick, 
in their resistless fury. 

The depth to which a well is sunk depends on 
many circumstances. Sometimes it is regulated by the 
depth of wells in the neighborhood that have proved 
11 



122 CURIOSITY. 

successful, and sometimes by the " show of oil" in the 
well. Even when a good vein of oil has been pierced, 
and the desirable fluid has been found in large quan- 
tities, the well is still sunk many feet deeper, in order 
to provide a receptacle for sand and particles of earthy 
matter that fall from the sides of the well, and thus 
prevent them from clogging up the vein. 

But the presence of oil in a well is no infallible 
evidence that the work is a success. It may all be 
from a few minute veins, that will soon exhaust them- 
selves without the aid of the pump. Neither is the 
absence of oil, even its total lack, any infallible indi- 
cation that the well is a failure. The volume of water 
from above and around may be keeping it back, until 
removed by the pump. 

In the beginning of oil operations, the curiosity of 
the public was so great as to be a source of serious 
annoyance to the workmen. Crowds thronged around 
the derricks, all taking a great interest in the work, 
eager to become acquainted with its progress, and to 
learn of its ultimate success. Several times in the 
course of an hour the man seated upon the boring-stool, 
would be interrogated as to the depth he had reached, 
whether hard or soft rock, how he got clear of the sand 
set free in boring, whether he had found much oil, or 
how deep he designed to go before giving up. To all 
these queries and an hundred others, reasonable and 
unreasonable, the good-natured borer was < obliged to 
make some reply. Sometimes the answers were cor- 
rectly made and sometimes not, just as the mood might 
be upon him. 

Occasionally a new device was resorted to. A flam- 



OIL OR CHINA. 123 

ing poster was prepared and put up in a conspicuous 
place outside the derrick, on which the whole state of 
the case was set forth, embodying alike facts, results, 
hopes, and assurances. Perhaps it would set forth the 
following, or like scheme : — " We are three hundred 
feet deep in the sand rock. We have a good show of 
oil. We make ten feet per day. We expect to have 
a good well. We have no fear of failure. We are 
employed and paid for boring this well, and not for 
keeping a general intelligence office !" 

Perhaps one of the most suggestive intimations was 
found painted on a board, and affixed to the out- 
side of the derrick, where patience certainly had room 
to have her perfect work. The men had worked long 
and persistently without " a smell of oil," as the work- 
men term it, and were still nearing the centre of the 
earth at the rate of ten feet per day. Their inscription 
was " Oil or China," in blazing capitals. Here was 
the persistent determination of the people where every 
man is a sovereign ; the purpose must be accomplished 
even if pursued to the other side of the globe. 

In this labor the progress depends on the nature of 
the rock ; in the shale it is much more rapid than in the 
sand rock. Perhaps, on an average, about ten feet per 
day is fair progress. At many establishments the labor 
is continued night and day, employing two sets of hands 
— one set commencing at noon and continuing until 
midnight, the other from midnight until noon. A well 
six hundred feet deep will require from five to ten 
weeks to accomplish the work, according as the work 
is carried on twelve or twenty-four hours per day. 

The cost of sinking an oil well to the depth of 



124 COST OF SINKING A WELL. 

six hundred feet may be learned from the following es- 
timate : — 

Forty feet of metal pipe at $6 per foot $240 00 

One engine, ten horse-power 1,600 00 

Band- wheel and belting 125 00 

One set of boring implements 325 00 

Derrick complete, with bull-wheel, walking-beam, and 

samson-po3t 100 00 

Six hundred feet of cable and sand-pump rope 100 00 

Drilling six hundred feet, at $2 50 per foot 1,500 00 

Six hundred bushels of coal, at 50 cents 300 00 

Total $4,290 00 

To all these a small amount may be added for con- 
tingencies. With this view a very near approximation 
may be made to the expense of boring an oil well. 

In the matter of boring, as in other branches of busi- 
ness, new plans have been suggested, and new machines 
brought forward, with more or less success. Besides the 
implements described at length in this chapter, there 
has been brought to notice what is called the Z bit, from 
its resemblance on its cutting face to two letters of this 
variety crossing each other at right angles at the middle 
of the stem. In order to obtain a proper idea, however, 
the transverse portion of the letter must be imagined to 
be quite long, and the parallel portions quite short. 
The whole face of the bit corresponding with the differ- 
ent portions of the letter is furnished with a cutting 
edge. The body of the bit resembles somewhat a black- 
smith's mandrel, and is quite heavy. It is attached to a 
cable, and operated as the utensils already described. 
The idea of this bit was brought from California, but it 
has not yet had sufficient trial to warrant an opinion 
being formed as to its merits or demerits. 



DIAMOND DRILL. 125 

Another instrument has lately been introduced, more 
novel in its principle than any that has preceded it. It 
is called the "diamond drill," and is said to have been 
patented originally in France, by Rudolf Leschand, and 
introduced to the United States through the " Scientific 
American Patent Agency." The drill consists of a long 
thin tube or cylinder of steel, in the lower end of which 
fifteen diamonds are set around the circumference. 
These diamonds are really the cutting instruments. 
The drill is operated by machinery from above, that 
gives it a rotary motion of very great velocity. The 
rock is cut out in a solid core, and is removed in pieces 
by clamps let down from above. By this process the 
patentee expects to put down a well of four hundred feet 
in two or three weeks. If this plan of boring is suc- 
cessful, it will be a valuable improvement in the mat- 
ter of boring, both as regards expense and time, as well 
as assist in elucidating many interesting questions that 
arise in regard to the rock, the formation of strata, the 
frequency of seams and small apertures, as well as other 
matters both curious and valuable. This drill, like the 
one previously mentioned, has not been in use a sufficient 
length of time to test its value and importance. 



11* 



126 TESTING A WELL. 



CHAPTER X. 

TUBING AND PUMPING. 

After the boring has been successfully accomplished, 
the next operation is testing the well. In other words, 
it is to decide whether the result of two months' labor, 
and the expenditure of several thousand dollars, is simply 
a deep, worthless hole in the rock, filled with salt water, 
or a bona fide oil well, from which is to flow wealth, and 
comfort, and ease. The operation of testing, it may be 
supposed, is like that of the merchant as he balances his 
books at the close of the year, to ascertain whether he is 
wealthy or simply a bankrupt. No wonder the operator 
holds his breath as the engine is put in operation, and 
the first strokes of the pump begin to exhaust the 
chamber. But this work of testing is not the labor of a 
day simply. It may be prolonged over many weeks 
and months even. No doubt many a vein of oil is 
pierced that is lost to the owner of the well, from the 
simple fact that the tubing has been defective, and the 
means used for exhausting the water inadequate. In 
the process of boring, too, a valuable vein of oil may be 
closed by the beating and pounding process of reaming, 
effectually closing the aperture, as though by the use of 
oakum and caulking iron, with a design of excluding the 
oil. 

The introduction of a tube and pump is the only test 



VACUUM FORMED — CHAMBER. 127 

that can be depended on in deciding as to the success or 
failure of a well. There may be a rich stratum of oil on 
the top of the well, and on the surface of the sand-pump, 
and vet the work prove a failure ; for all this oil may be 
from minute veins, that will yield but little in the aggre- 
gate. Again, there may be no surface show whatever, 
and yet the result be a complete success. A vein of 
water may be pierced that leads to an oil cavity, it may 
be, far away, and it requires but to have this water vein 
exhausted in order to set free the oil that is imprisoned 
in the rocky bed. We have found the well full to the 
surface during all the stages of boring; this must be 
overcome, and a vacuum formed low down, and as near 
the cavity containing the oil as possible. 

Tubing consists in putting a continuous pipe down 
to the oil vein, and then excluding the water from 
above. This tube is denominated the " chamber' ' by the 
oil men, and varies from two to three inches in diame- 
ter, consisting of sections about twelve to fourteen feet in 
length, connected together by screw and socket joints. 
The sections are put together as the chamber descends 
into the well, and detached when it is taken out, as cir- 
cumstances render this operation necessary. 

At the commencement of oil operations this chamber 
was almost universally made of copper. It was supposed 
that no other material would successfully resist the action 
of the salt water that is found in every oil well. It had, 
moreover, the advantage of being light and easily han- 
dled. But it was very expensive, and as prices ad- 
vanced, required a small fortune to purchase a pump. 
It lacked also in strength, even in wells that were not 
very deep, frequently bursting under pressure, and ex- 
posing the workmen to tedious and perplexing delays. 



128 COPPER AND IRON TUBING. 

But when deep boring was resorted to, and wells of from 
five to eight hundred feet were to be tubed and pumped, 
the use of a copper chamber became impracticable. 

The use of iron as a material for the chamber was then 
resorted to with almost complete success. It has not 
sutler ed from its saline bath as much as was expected. 
It is, as a general thing, shut off from contact with the 
atmosphere, and being always coated with oil, the salt 
water makes but little impression upon it. This tubing 
is of wrought iron, of sufficient thickness to insure 
strength, and connected together as the copper chamber 
was, with screw and socket joints. The size of the cham- 
ber depends on the supposed capacity of the well, being 
generally, for pumping wells, from two to three inches 
in diameter. 

This chamber is put down into 
the well, a new joint being added 
as each preceding one sinks down 
to the level of the derrick floor, 
until the lower end reaches the 
neighborhood of the oil vein. The 
joints are screwed together and de- 
tached by the use of a peculiar kind 
of tongs, that clasp the chamber 
firmly, without at the same time in- 
juring it. The register kept during 
the process of boring enables the 
workman, as a general thing, to de- 
termine where the vein of oil is to 
be found, and so to arrange the pro- 
per length of the chamber. 

But there are usually many veins of water passed 
through in the process of boring, as well as a heavy body 



ADJUSTING SEED-BAG. 129 

of surface water pressing into the well, and sonip device 
must be resorted to in order to shut off this water from 
the oil vein, and thus produce a vacuum. This is ac- 
complished by applying what is called a ''seed-bag" to 
the tube at the point where this shutting off would be 
desirable. This point, too, is regulated by the register, 
as it is important that it be in smooth, solid rock. 

The seed-bag is a tube of strong leather, about eighteen 
inches in length, and of a diameter somewhat larger than 
that of the well. This leathern cylinder, or pipe, is put 
around the metallic tube at the proper point, and firmly 
tied at the lower end. From a pint to a quart of flax- 
seed is then poured in, and the upper end tied rather 
more slightly than the lower. When the chamber is 
sunk to its place in the well, the seed in this leathern 
receptacle swells so that in a few hours the bag distends 
and effectually shuts off all water from above. When it 
is necessary to withdraw the tubing from the well, the 
effort of raising it will break the slight fastening at the 
upper end of the leathern sack, permitting the seed to 
escape, turn the bag wrong side outwards, and leave it 
in proper condition for filling, and readjusting when the 
tube is returned to the well. 

Other devices have been proposed to accomplish the 
same purpose as the seed-bag, but as yet nothing 
has succeeded so well as the old-fashioned arrangement 
of the leathern sack filled with flaxseed. It is simple, it 
is practical, it accomplishes the purpose. Other methods 
that have been proposed are cumbrous, difficult in their 
adjustment, and so far have not succeeded in fulfilling 
the expectations that were entertained in regard to 
them. 

The well being successfully tubed, if it be a flowing 



130 PUMP-BARREL — SUCKER-RODS. 

well, the gas and oil will flow forth without any farther 
trouble from the engine, or any other power. If there 
is not sufficient gas to force the oil up, preparations must 
be made for pumping. 

For wells that are to be pumped, a pump-barrel is 
placed at the lower end of the tube, to be worked by a 
piston. The valves at the lower end of this pump-barrel 
are of various kinds, sometimes working with a hinge, 
and sometimes as a detached ball. To the piston in the 
pump are attached " sucker-rods," reaching to the top, 
and attached to the walking-beam used in boring the 
well. These sucker-rods are of wood, in joints about 
twenty feet long, and connected together by iron sockets 
and screws, and are connected together and detached as 
they are put into the well or taken out. When taken 
out, both the chamber and sucker-rods are set on end in 
one corner of the derrick ; and in their operation the 
bull-wheel and pulley attached to the derrick play an 
important part. 

The top of the chamber, when adjusted in the well, 
usually extends about six or eight feet above the derrick* 
floor. Sometimes a tub or a half barrel is placed on the 
top, with a tube running from near the top of the tub 
into the oil tank. Sometimes there is simply a tube con- 
necting with the chamber, at an angle sufficient to con- 
duct the oil and water into the tank. 

The testing of an oil well is often very tedious and 
perplexing. It may yield nothing but water, and that 
at such a rate as almost to induce the workmen to be- 
lieve there is an underground communication with the 
river. Perhaps there is a vein of water below the seed- 
bag, or it may be there is a crevice or fracture in the 
rock just at the point where the seed-bag is placed, per- 



EXHAUSTING THE WATER. 131 

mitting the water to run in from above. The sucker- 
rods are drawn out, then the chamber, piece by piece, 
and the seed-bag adjusted to a new place, and the whole 
put in again. The second trial, perhaps, succeeds no 
better than the first. New theories are advanced, and 
new trials made of re-adjusting the tubing. Perhaps, in 
their desperation, the workmen may put the pump in 
operation, and continue for weeks pumping salt water, 
when at last the oil will begin to flow, rewarding their 
persistent efforts with a copious yield. The philosophy 
in this case seems to be, that the cavities containing the 
oil are a long distance away, and that the avenues lead- 
ing to them are filled with water in a sluggish state, 
with, perhaps, a stratum of gas preventing a single drop 
or globule of oil finding its way through the water. 
When this latter is removed by the pump, the vacuum 
opens the way for the oil, and if the cavity is sufficient, 
the flow will be copious. 

Often, however "this persistent pumping proves fruit- 
less, and resort is bad to re-adjusting the tubing and so 
on for weeks and months. Instances are on record 
where this re-adjustment has taken place as many as 
fifty times, resulting in success at last. But the result 
is oftentimes failure after all the labor and experiment- 
ing that can be brought to bear. Either there is no oil, 
or the manner of tubing has been defective throughout, 
and the adventure is a total loss. 

In the shallower wells the proportion of water thrown 
out by the pump is very great. Veins of water are 
sometimes passed below those that yield oil. Som.etimes 
this bit of experience proves fatal to many a promising 
oil vein. In this case, attempts are sometimes made to 
stop up the well below the vein of oil, but this is diffi- 



132 CLOSING OF VEINS. 

cult, as the vacuum above assists the upward pressure 
of the water below, and the obstruction yields to the 
combined attack and gives way, deluging the well with 
water again. In the deeper wells, especially those reach- 
ing into the third sand rock, particularly where 
the seed-bag is attached within the third sand rock, 
this difficulty is not so much in the way. In fact, it 
is the opinion of many operators of experience and 
judgment, that there is no water found in and below the 
third sand rock, and that if the well be properly tubed, 
the pump will present no water at all, but a constant 
stream of pure oil. Let the value of this theory be what 
it may, the fact is on record, that from deep wells water 
is often entirely excluded. 

Another difficulty that meets the workmen occasion- 
ally is, that without any known cause the well will cease 
its yield, where the tubing has not been disturbed. 
Sometimes, doubtless, this result takes place because the 
oil has all been exhausted from a small cavity, or crevice 
of limited extent. But this is not always the cause. 
It may result from the settling down of the sand and 
mud from the sides of the well, or from crevices in the 
rock over the vein, clogging it up. In this case the 
remedy would consist in withdrawing the chamber, and, 
with the sand-pump, extracting the sediment, and per- 
haps boring the well somewhat deeper. Instances are 
observed, too, where wells that had yielded plentifully 
have gradually lessened their supply, and finally ceased 
altogether after having thrown out for a time minute 
particles of parafine, thereby suggesting the idea that 
this substance had gradually accumulated until it had 
closed the orifices. In such cases two remedies have 



REMEDIED BY STEAM OR THE TORPEDO. 133 

been sugested, and either one has in a few instances 
resulted in success. 

The first is by the use of steam. A small gas tube is 
put down the chamber, and a jet of steam is forced 
down from the engine, until the gradual heat is sup- 
posed to melt the parafine, and thus open the veins. 
Under favorable circumstances this is practicable. Para- 
fine melts at 112°, and, if the water is pretty thoroughly 
exhausted, that amount of heat might be attained by 
the injection of steam for that length of time. 

The other remedy attempted has been a kind of 
torpedo, or strong water-tight box filled with powder, 
and exploded by a galvanic battery. This explosion is 
supposed to distend the opening, enlarging the veins, 
and preparing for the flow of the oil to the region of 
the pump. 

The simple fact that these remedies often fail is no 
evidence against the soundness of the philosophy on 
which they are based. The idea of firing upon a be- 
leaguered city or garrison by means of mortar batteries is 
certainly feasible and philosophical, yet it has its diffi- 
culties and discouragements. Perhaps not one-half nor 
one-fourth of the shot reach their destination, but fall 
harmlessly in out of the way places, and no one knows 
what becomes of them. Still mortar fleets and batteries 
w T ill be used under certain circumstances, and with a 
reasonable prospect of doing good service. And it is by 
trying various kind of experiments, that seem calculated 
to answer the end in view, that difficulties, like those 
spoken of, can reasonably be hoped to be removed. 

The question here becomes a very interesting one 
whether in pumping, wells ever interfere with each 
other. At the first stages of proceedings it was thought 
12 



134 CASES OF CONSCIENCE. 

that they did not, and that all fears in regard to this 
were groundless. But subsequent developments indicate 
that there is a connection in some instances by means 
of which oil is drawn from one well to another. In one 
instance, the vein or cavity that had been drawn from, 
for a length of time, by a successful borer, was tapped 
by an enterprising neighbor, when all proceedings were 
at once stopped on the part of the first, the second 
adventurer taking all the oil. The result was that a 
compromise was affected, the two wells pumping alter- 
nate days. 

This state of affairs has given rise to a number of 
curious questions in casuistry, or " cases of conscience," 
as the old fathers called them, not laid down in the 
books, and that have been generally adjudicated without 
recourse to courts of Jaw. So far there seems to be a 
disposition to do justly, to deal equitably with each 
other, and to consider the business a common one, in 
which they are all interested. It is something of the 
feeling that binds people together in new countries, 
where they feel that mutual concessions and looking 
after the general welfare is the duty of each individual. 

One of these cases arose in this wise. A well had 
been pumping with considerable success for a length 
of time. The body of water had been heavy, yet by 
vigorous pumping it was kept down, and a fair propor- 
tion of oil was obtained. Another party bored a well 
in the neighborhood, and on commencing to pump found 
nothing but water. He persevered for a time although 
the result was not changed, yet to his neighbor, the first 
operator, there was a decided advantage as the quantity 
of oil was very materially increased. The second party 
finally concluded to abandon the work as unproductive. 



CONTINUOUS PUMPING. 135 

The first then proposed to pay the second for pumping 
water, as the advantage to him was very great. This 
arrangement was entered into, when, after a time, well 
number two commenced yielding oil, and number one 
began to fail, and its proprietor discovered that he was 
paying his neighbor for robbing him. And yet it was 
involuntary robbery brought about by the mysterious 
operations of the rocky labyrinth beneath. 

As to the regularity of pumping there is a difference 
in wells, particularly among the smaller ones. Gene- 
rally it is of the greatest importance to pump continu- 
ously, both day and night, in order, at times, to keep 
down the volume of water, and at other times because 
the amount of oil gradually increases day after day, by 
means of such pumping. In the earlier stages of the 
business, and when wells were not bored very deep, this 
was particularly observable. If they " rested the Sab- 
bath, according to the commandment," on Monday 
morning the proportion of oil was small, but each day 
of the week it increased until Saturday night, indicat- 
ing that there was a connection with water veins some- 
where, and that steady and severe pumping was neces- 
sary to overcome the water. 

But there are other instances where no damage has 
resulted from a cessation of pumping for a time; and 
even where the pump has rested altogether during the 
night, experience proving that as much oil could be 
pumped in twelve hours as in twenty-four. This state 
of affairs is, no doubt due to the fact that the water was 
excluded in large volume, and that the oil was contained 
in a cavity of limited extent, fed by small fissures, and 
that when this cavity was nearly exhausted by a day's 
pumping the rest of the night permitted the cavity to 



136 AIR-PUMP. 

fill up and be ready for the next day's operations. This 
condition of things belongs rather to wells of small 
capacity; in the deeper and large producing ones, stop- 
ping operations for any great length of time has some- 
times operated disastrously. Instances are known where 
a rest of a few weeks or months has entirely ruined the 
well, or, as the workmen term it, the oil has been lost. 
Perhaps this result has occurred generally where numer- 
ous other wells have been pumping in the same neigh- 
borhood, that have attracted the oil in their direction, 
until it has ceased to flow in the old channels. In this 
case, either the inducement is greater in the new, or 
the old veins have become obstructed from mechanical 
causes. 

In all these matters observation and experience are 
the best teachers, and the true policy is to operate with 
a given well in such a way as close observation shall 
indicate to be best under the circumstances of its loca- 
tion and surroundings. 

Another way of bringing the oil to the surface, where 
sufficient gas is present to answer the purpose, is to 
remove the ordinary chamber, and in its stead put down 
a gas pipe of a half or three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter, with the usual seed bag attachment. This 
small tube so confines the gas that often a small flowing 
well is extemporized that will yield as much oil daily 
as could be pumped in the same time, and with little 
or no expense. 

A late invention has been patented that does away 
with the pump as a means of raising the oil to the sur- 
face, by using an air-pump in forcing condensed air into 
the well, and thus acting in the same manner as gas 
in forcing the oil up the pipe. The arrangement is 



MUDDY OIL. 137 

simple : two pipes are put down into the well parallel 
to each other. One, called the discharge pipe, is an inch 
and a half in diameter, having an enlarged cup at 
the lower end to receive the oil. The other, called the 
blast pipe, is connected with the air-pump above, whilst 
below it is turned up like the short leg of a syphon, 
so as to enter the cup-like opening of the discharge pipe, 
and tapers at the nozzle to one-third of an inch in diame- 
ter. This arrangement is designed particularly for wells 
of great depth. In some instances where it has been 
tried in wells that have been obstructed it has proved a 
valuable aid in overcoming the obstructions, and prepar- 
ing the way for the ordinary lifting pump. It has not 
been sufficiently tested, however, to enable the public 
to decide upon its final merits. It is claimed for this 
arrangement that it acts not only "by the momentum 
due to its velocity; but, mingling with the oil, lessens 
the weight of the ascending column, and thus aids the 
work." 

A difficulty has arisen in regard to the quality of the 
oil produced in some wells. Sometimes they will pump 
or flow what is termed " muddy oil," or " riley oil," the 
latter term being more provincial than classical. In this 
condition of the oil it is, as the term would indicate, 
mixed with mud — not only sand, but an argillaceous, ad- 
hesive mud, that is held in precipitation, though not in 
solution, by it. So firm and tenacious is the grasp of the 
oil in this mischievous compound, that it is extremely 
difficult to separate them. This state of affairs is ex- 
cessively annoying to oil men. The matter of sepa- 
rating the mud from the oil is difficult and perplexing, 
and unless it is perfectly accomplished the oil is damaged 
12* 



138 PREPARATION OF TANKS. 

in the market. It is the opinion of some that this is 
produced by muddy water running into wells that 
have been abandoned, and finding its way to the oil 
cavities, but it seems due rather to the influence of the 
"mud veins" referred to in chapter ix. The agitation 
of the gas, and oil, and water, either in pumping or flow- 
ing wells, may, under certain circumstances, dissolve and 
set free the substance of the mud vein, and thus produce 
the phenomena of muddy oil. 

The cost of tubing a well six hundred feet in depth, 
and inserting pumping apparatus, may be stated as fol- 
lows: — 

Six hundred feet of chamber at 60 cents $360 00 

Pump barrel 35 00 

Six hundred feet of sucker-rods, at 17 cents 102 00 

Two pairs of gas-tongs 12 00 

Total $509 00 

In connection with pumping, the preparation of tanks 
or vessels to receive the oil as it comes from the well is 
one of great importance. Generally the oil is mingled 
with a large proportion of water, which must be separated 
from it before it can be barrelled and sent to market. 
For small wells, this tank is usually constructed of 
planks, keyed together within a frame work, and made 
water-tight. Into this tank the oil and water flow from 
the discharge-pipe of the well, where the superior gra- 
vity of the salt water causing it to sink to the bottom, 
the oil is found at the surface. The water is then drawn 
from the bottom of the tank, and the oil from above is 
received into barrels. 

This arrangement answers very well in connection 
with wells of small capacity, and when the demand for 



MONSTER TANKS. 139 

the product was brisk, but in process of time, when large 
wells were opened, and particularly flowing wells, the 
matter of tanks became a very important one. A plank 
box no longer answered the purpose ; it might be filled in 
an hour. The plan of hydraulic cisterns under ground, 
like rain-water cisterns, was suggested, and experiments 
made by workers in hydraulic lime, but the experiments 
failed ; the petroleum is of so subtle and permeating a 
nature that it finds its way through substances that 
will retain water with ease. 

An attempt was made to construct large tanks of up- 
right hoops banded with iron, but having earthen bot- 
toms puddled with potter's clay, and with a stratum of 
water on the top of the clay. - But the oil m Q .n soon 
found in the gutters and inequalities around the cistern, 
oil to such an extent that a profitable trade might have 
been carried on in gathering it up. This plan was aban- 
doned. The general plan now, is to construct an im- 
mense tub of planks, hooped with iron, having a 
plank bottom. These tanks are sometimes twenty-four 
feet in diameter and sixteen feet high, and will contain, 
perhaps, ten to twelve thousand barrels of petroleum. 
Oftentimes a number of large tanks are found con- 
nected with the flowing wells ; usually, however, they 
are not so large, but contain, perhaps, three or four thou- 
sand barrels, and increase in number what they lack in 
quantity. The latter plan, although a little more ex- 
pensive than the former, is the safest, as an accident hap- 
pening to one may not be communicated to the others, 
whereas, if all the product of a well is stored in one 
tank a slight accident may destroy it all. 

In these tanks the petroleum is received from the 
wells, separated from the water, and retained until it 



140 GAS AS FUEL. 

can be put into barrels and sent to market. A large 
amount of tankage at the wells renders the market more 
steady and regular, as it can be kept on hand, and not 
forced on the market for want of a place of storage. 
This, together with the amount of capital now thrown 
into the oil trade, has latterly prevented the panics in 
the market that at one time characterized it, and opera- 
ted so disastrously to many persons engaged in the 
business. 

Sometimes, in very cold weather, the separation of oil 
and water becomes slow and difficult, and to remedy this 
the steam-pipe of the engine is conducted into the tank, 
and by the assistance of a drum at the bottom, the heat 
necessary to promote this separation is obtained. 

The fuel used for the engines is bituminous coal ; but 
this is expensive, and resort is had to the use of the gas 
that escapes from the well. In some wells this is amply 
sufficient for the purpose, in others it answers in part, 
the lack being supplemented by coal. The apparatus 
for collecting the gas is very simple. The oil and gas 
together, as they come from the well, are received in the 
top of a barrel or hogshead. A pipe from near the bot- 
tom conveys the oil to the tank, and another from near 
the top conducts the gas to the fire-chamber in the 
engine. The pipes are so regulated that about the pro- 
per amount of space is preserved at the top of the barrel 
to receive the gas, the pressure of the oil forcing it to the 
fire-chamber. The only danger to be guarded against is 
fire, but, as yet, this has not proved a formidable danger, 
and the plan works to very great advantage. 



NEW FEATUKE. 141 



CHAPTER XI. 

FLOWING WELLS. 

The business of boring and pumping was proceeding 
regularly and encouragingly, when a new feature pre- 
sented itself that was most startling, and, in some re- 
spects, disastrous. Wells were being bored along Oil 
creek, the Allegheny, French creek, and their tributa- 
ries, and were in all stages of development. Some had 
simply erected their derricks, some were an hundred feet 
in the rock, and others actually pumping, when the 
change came that wrought ruin to the hopes of many an 
ardent operator. 

In the Oil creek region, some of the smaller wells 
having been exhausted, resort was had to deeper boring. 
One hopeful theorist imagined that if the desirable fluid 
came from a very great depth, it might be good policy 
to seek it in a stratum still nearer its rocky home. So 
down he penetrated, regardless of the " fine show of oil" 
that presented itself by the way, until, at the depth of 
five hundred feet in the rock, a vein of mingled oil and 
water was reached that literally forced the boring imple- 
ments from the well. The oil continued to flow with a 
constant stream, after this sudden exodus of the imple- 
ments, rising to a height of sixty feet above the surface 
of the ground, and was occasionally accompanied by a 
roaring sound, like the Geysers of Iceland. 



142 ANXIETY FOR A FLOWING WELL. 

Here was a new feature in oil operations. Heretofore 
the production had been the result of slow and painful 
pumping, and this at the rate of a few barrels per day ; 
here was a spontaneous yield of hundreds of barrels 
daily, without expense or labor. Was it possible to con- 
tinue this inexpensive process? Was it possible to carry 
on the trade by simply perforating the rocky crust, and 
then trusting to the mysterious forces of nature to pour 
forth the petroleum in indefinite quantities? It seemed 
so from this exhibition, and yet, if it were so, a complete 
revolution must take place in the business. Oil would 
become cheap as water, and the business become at once 
unprofitable. Notwithstanding all this, the idea was a 
brilliant one, and men seized upon it with avidity. The 
idea of flowing wells for the spontaneous production of 
petroleum, once inaugurated, must be pursued at once, 
and with persistent energy. There was not only a spon- 
taneous yield, but a yield in enormous quantities. So a 
"pumping well," as it was called, was voted a slow 
institution, and parties who had been satisfied with the 
old order of things, and were growing rich on the pro- 
ceeds of pumping, renewed the operation of boring near 
their old sites, and many, at the depth of the first flowing 
well, met with like success. Parties also, that were 
boring, continued on in spite of all oil indications, to the 
depth of five hundred feet and beyond, and many of 
them were rewarded by opening the way to veins of oil 
and gas that gushed forth spontaneously and continu- 
ously. Every man on the creek was anxious to have a 
flowing well, although the product might remain useless 
upon his hands. The dark green fluid represented 
wealth ; it had made many rich, and large quantities 
were desirable in any event. 



EFFECTS ON THE TRADE. 143 

But the operation of these wells was disastrous to the 
trade generally during the first six months of their flow. 
Their enormous yield had the effect of bringing down 
the price of petroleum to so low a figure that pumping 
wells were at once closed. The proceeds would not pay 
for the fuel — scarcely even for the payment of the work- 
men , and at once the entire business, with the exception 
of a few r wells at Franklin and French creek, that yielded 
heavy lubricating oil, was confined to the valley of Oil 
creek, then the region of flowing wells. Oil at once fell 
to a price much below that of the barrel that contained 
it. Parties sending their barrels, or " packages," as the 
oil men call them, to these flowing wells could have them 
filled at one cent per gallon, or less if they had the heart 
to ask it. It could be bought for less at the wells 
than common creek water has latterly been selling at in 
the streets of Franklin. 

Of course, there was at once a panic in the oil region. 
"Whereunto would this matter grow? Some wise heads 
predicted that in a few days the stream would cease to 
flow, and sat down to watch its decreasing volume, 
growing " small by degrees, and beautifully less." But 
this was of no avail. The stream seemed to increase 
rather than decrease. It was like the countryman sit- 
ting upon a dry-goods box on Broadway w r aiting until 
the crowd got by. Others, equally wise, thought they 
saw in this new phase of things not only disaster, but 
utter and total ruin to the oil business. The market 
would be overstocked ; it would not be worth an ambiti- 
ous man's attention ; the ship was sinking, and must be 
abandoned at once. One extreme generally follows 
another, and persons who had a few w T eeks before con- 
sidered the oil business the great, hopeful business of 



144 PHILOSOPHY OF FLOWING WELLS. 

the, age now condemned it as the prince of humbugs, and 

Venango county the great "Vanity Fair" of the earth, 

11 So swift trod sorrow on the heels of joy !" 

On the Allegheny and French creek, wells were 
abandoned, leases forfeited, and machinery removed as 
the operators shook the dust from their feet, as a testi- 
mony against the wicked and deceptive region where 
they had spent their money for nought. There was 
some ground for this discouragement, still it was not 
altogether justifiable. It would have been better to 
take in the sails, bolt down the hatches, and wait until 
the storm had passed by ; or at least attempted to weather 
it out. 

These flowing wells were found at the depth of about 
five hundred feet in the rock, and usually in what is 
termed the " third sand rock." They are tubed as 
other wells, with the exception that the pump attach- 
ment is wanting, and the tube has an elbow some eight 
feet from the derrick floor, from which the discharge 
pipe leads into the tank. In some of these wells the 
stream is pure oil, in others mingled oil and water, in 
each instance accompanied, of course, by gas, that is the 
motive power. The quality of the stream, whether pure 
oil or oil and water, depends, as will be hereafter seen, 
on the particular point in the vein perforated, in rela- 
tion to the cavity containing the oil. 

The philosophy of flowing wells may be readily under- 
stood from a diagram. We may imagine cavities in the 
rock beneath of every conceivable form and size. The 
strata that is generally termed the oil bearing rock may 
have been contorted and broken by some internal convul- 
sions of nature, through the agency of heat and gas, so 
as to form caverns of great extent. These caverns have 



ILLUSTRATION. 



145 



connected with them seams, and leaders, and cavities 
usually termed veins. In these cavities the oil is col- 
lected and stored away. But water also forces its 
way through crevices, and is found in connection with 
the oil ; gas also will be found in the same receptacles. 
Kow, it is not only probable but absolutely certain that 
these three fluids will be found in the cavities of the 
rock beneath, in the same relative position that they are 
found in the covered tanks around the wells. The 
water will be found on the bottom, the oil next, and 
gas on the top, pressing against the top or roof of the 
cavity, and becoming greatly compressed by the forcing 
in of the water below. Let the engraving then repre- 




sent a section of the rock strata from the surface down- 
wards. The cavity, of course, is imaginary, yet con- 



13 



146 EXPLANATION. 

ceivable, containing water below, then oil, with gas in a 
compressed state above. If we conceive a small vein or 
cavity leading in the direction from a to 6, filled with 
water, with a well sunk (c) from above, and striking this 
vein at b, we will see at once that a flowing well will be 
the result. The tremendous pressure of the confined 
gas at the top of the cavity will force the oil and water 
downwards, and through the vein to the point where it 
is tapped, and so up through the chamber with a force 
proportioned to the volume of the gas and the constancy 
of its supply from other cavities ; it may be far down in 
the regions below. If the cavity indicated be very large, 
and the connection with other cavities be by means of 
large crevices and veins, we may suppose that the 
supply will be constant, and the flowing well continue 
in operation for quite a length of time, though it can 
hardly be expected to be permanent. 

If the vein tapped connects with the cavity in the 
region filled with gas, or at the point a, there will be an 
explosion of gas, and it is barely possible that the reac- 
tion of the gas on the oil may cause it to flow, particu- 
larly after the water has been removed from the vein 
with a pump ; but this is doubtful, and especially is it 
questionable whether, under such circumstances, the oil 
would flow for any length of time. Still tapping a vein 
like this would readily beget a pumping well, for after 
the gas was removed the pressure of water from other 
veins would raise the oil to the sphere of the influence 
exerted by the pump, and there would be a pumping 
well accompanied at times with considerable annoyance 
from gas. And this is not an unusual result. Some- 
times the pump works with difficulty on account of the 
presence of gas, and occasionally by the introduction of 



FIRST FLOWING WELL. 147 

a very small tube, oil has been made to flow in small 
quantities. 

The history and amount of production of some of these 
flowing wells is interesting. The first one was developed 
on the McElhaney farm, and is usually known as the 
Funk well, being bored by a man of that name. It 
was opened in June, 1861, and at once commenced flow- 
ing at the rate of two hundred and fifty barrels per day. 
In the face of all past experience, and all ill-boding 
prophecies of speedy failure, it continued to yield a 
constant supply for one year and three months. In the 
fall of the same year a flowing well was opened on the 
Tarr farm that completely eclipsed the Funk well. This 
was the Philips' well, and commenced at two thousand 
barrels per day. This was followed by the Empire well 
at the modest rate of three thousand barrels daily ! 
This was the " eagle's highest flight," and the wells 
stayed at this in quantity though not in number. 

These were followed in irregular succession by others. 
The Noble well yielded twenty-five hundred ; Caldwell, 
eight hundred; Maple Shade, one thousand; Jersey, five 
hundred ; Coquette, fifteen hundred ; Eeid, one thousand 
— this latter is on Cherry run ; and so on down to ten 
barrels per day, literally fullfilling the words of Job, 
u The rock poured me out rivers of oil." 

Some of these wells were bored under extreme difficulty, 
and sore discouragement, arising from want of means 
and straitened circumstances. It must have been a glad 
sight to see the mighty current gushing forth after so 
much labor, and toil, and discouragement. 

The history of the Funk well is briefly this. Captain 
Funk was the possessor of a few modest acres on Oil 
creek; but lived in Titusville a few miles above. When 



148 HISTORY OF SHERMAN WELL. 

the oil business commenced, encouraged by the success 
of some of his neighbors, he resolved to attempt putting 
a well down on his own farm. He gave a lease 
to a man by the name of McElhaney who undertook 
the task of drilling a well by the tedious process of 
working the spring-pole by his foot. This plan worked 
well enough until the well was perhaps one hundred 
feet deep, when the labor became too burdensome. A 
horse-power was substituted, and the work carried for- 
ward to completion. 

The Sherman well, also, has an interesting history. Mr. 
Sherman came to the oil region a man of very limited 
means, but could command a small capital belonging 
to his wife. He obtained a lease on the Foster farm, 
and commenced to put down a well by hand. He had 
a fine show of oil, but long before reaching any consider- 
able vein, the wife's funds gave out. Working by hand 
was no longer possible on account of the depth of the 
well, and there was no means at hand of purchasing a 
horse. After working until something should turn up, 
an interest in the well was finally exchanged for a horse, 
and the work proceeded. But after a while the work 
became too onerous for the poor horse, and the well was 
once more at a dead stand. At last a farther interest in 
the well was bartered to two men who owned a small 
engine, and the work once again went forward. But 
coal was expensive, and none of the partners were able 
to purchase, and the work was suspended. A sixteenth 
interest was now offered for sale in order to purchase 
fuel, when, after waiting for a time, it was disposed of 
for eighty dollars and an old shot gun. The money and 
perhaps the shot-gun were just about expended, and the 
spirits of the partners down to the lowest ebb, when the 



LOSS OF OIL. 149 

bit plumped into a cavity that at once yielded fifteen 
hundred barrels per day. The partners in faith and 
sorrow, now had no longer need for either the dilapi- 
dated horse nor the little engine that had done them 
such good service ; nature worked the pump on her own 
account, and all the owners had to do was to barrel the 
oil, and receive the proceeds. This well decreased to 
seven hundred barrels, and at the end of about two 
years became a pumping well. It is now a valuable 
well of that description, and is doing its owners good 
service. 

These wells were unequally distributed along the 
creek. The Maple Shade, Jersey, Keystone, and Co- 
quette are all on the Egbert farm ; the Sherman on the 
Foster, and the Noble on the Ferrel farm. 

Flowing wells were at the outset necessarily accompanied 
by a great loss of oil. At first wells were bored with 
the hope but not with the certainty of oil, and the tank 
was usually a secondary consideration. "When the first 
wells were opened, producing such grand results, there 
was little or no tankage ready to receive it, and the oil 
ran into the creek and flooded the land around the wells 
until it lay in small ponds. Pits were dug in the ground 
to receive it, and dams constructed to secure it, yet 
withal the loss was very great. In addition, oil fell to 
so low a figure that few comparatively were willing to 
hazard purchasing at any price. The consequence was 
that the river was flooded with oil, and hundreds of 
barrels were gathered from the surface as low down as 
Franklin, and prepared as lubricating oil. Even below 
this point oil could be gathered in the eddies and still 
water along the shore, and was distinctly perceptible 
13* 



150 WELL ON FIRE. 

as far down as Pittsburgh, one hundred and forty miles 
below. 

These erratic institutions were almost as difficult to 
manage as was Pegasus of old. They " played fantastic 
tricks" when least expected, throwing the oil over the 
workmen, deluging the region around, and, in one case, 
where the vein of oil was suddenly opened, setting fire 
to the machinery, destroying the workmen's tools, and 
raging with appalling fury. 

One notable instance of this kind must here be related. 
It is a tragical chapter in the history of petroleum opera- 
tions, the result of which settled like a gloomy incubus 
upon the oil regions at the time. It was at the first 
flowing well that was struck, and was known as the 
" Burning "Well," and located on the " John Buchanan 
Reserve," a part of the " Buchanan farm." The well 
had reached a depth of over three hundred feet when a 
column of gas rushed up that seemed to fill the whole 
region around. This gas was ignited by the fire of the 
engine that was pumping the Wadsworth well, eighty to 
one hundred feet distant. The first explosion was from 
the tank at the Wadsworth well, containing about one 
hundred and fifty barrels of oil. Immediately afterwards 
"the well exploded," as expressed by a bystander, with 
a shock like that of an earthquake, shaking every 
house on the Buchanan farm. All this occurred within 
thirty minutes after striking the vein in the well; in 
the meantime the mingled oil and gas was pouring 
from the orifice with terrible fury. It seemed as though 
the earth was vomiting flame threatening to fill the 
whole valley as with a sea of fire. The fiery column 
reached far above the derrick that was soon consumed, 
accompanied with dense volumes of black smoke, roaring 



MELANCHOLY SCENES. 151 

like a hurricane, turning and bending in every direction 
as the wind veered from one point to another. 

There were at the time of the explosion from ninety to 
one hundred persons standing around the well, many of 
whom were soon enveloped in the flames and saturated 
with the scalding burning fluid. Many of these persons 
had their clothing saturated in an instant with the 
spouting oil when the flames at once seized hold of them, 
and rendered them helpless in its fiery grasp. Of thirty- 
eight men, more or less severely burned, eighteen died. 
Among the latter was Mr. H. E. Rouse, one of the pro- 
prietors of the well, and one of the most enterprising 
and energetic of the business men along the valley of 
Oil creek. Some of the victims could not be removed, 
and were left in the midst of the flames until well nigh 
consumed. 

The scene was grand and awful, and had it not been 
for the suffering and loss of life that attended it, would 
have been interesting beyond description. Now the 
flame and smoke seemed to play upon the summit of the 
lofty hills and over the tree-tops, and soon they would 
swoop down into the valley like an eagle on his prey, 
accompanied by the hissing, roaring sound that added 
to the terrible accompaniments of the scene. 

This fire continued five days, and was finally extin- 
guished by digging up earth and carrying it upon blanket^ 
and smothering the flames. After the fire was extin- 
guished about sixty feet of chamber were put in the well, 
when it flowed about twenty thousand barrels, and 
ceased. After this a new chamber was extended down 
to the second sank rock, about three hundred feet from 
the surface, and a pump inserted, but no oil was found. 



152 WHAT FLOWING WELLS HAVE DONE. 

Subsequently it was bored to the depth of five hundred 
feet, but as yet without success. 

Other cases of fire have occurred on the creek re- 
sulting in much damage, but without the loss of life, 
save a few instances, where oil had been used as a 
kindling material in houses. A remarkable case of fire 
occurred at Oil City, where numerous boats taking fire, 
floated down the river, and consumed the bridge over 
the Allegheny river at Franklin. 

With all the disadvantages to smaller wells, and the 
loss of oil from irregular operations, these flowing wells 
have done a good work, for the general interests of the 
trade. Before their advent in the field of operation, the 
process of introducing oil generally throughout our own 
country was slow and irregular. The people had doubts 
in regard to the permanence of the supply. The price 
was too high almost to justify doubtful experiments, and 
the old tallow candle was battling manfully for his 
ancient rights, and for the defence of his tottering 
throne. The exports were very small indeed, arising 
from the same cause ; and it needed some mighty im- 
pulse to introduce the oil to general use both at home 
and abroad. It required some greater stimulus, too, 
than the pumping wells to bring petroleum into use for 
other purposes besides that of a light producer. 

The reign of flowing wells was just what was required. 
They deluged the popular mind; they deluged the coun- 
try. Prices came down at once so that the article, beau- 
tifully refined, could be purchased for twenty cents per 
gallon, and burned freely in the humblest households. 
The tallow candle was no longer king. With the ruin 
of his empire he came down from his throne gracefully, 
and "retired to some sequestered spot" to come no more 



WILL THEY FAIL? 153 

into public view. Petroleum was at once introduced to 
all parts of the country, and experiments made upon it 
for various purposes, causing an increased demand to be 
made for it from all classes of the community. It was 
introduced into foreign countries, and its value and 
importance tested there, until it became a necessity there 
as well as at home. 

The result has been that petroleum came to be consid- 
ered a necessity, and the demand became regular, or 
rather continued to increase even after prices were raised 
to the old rates that prevailed previous to the reign of 
flowing wells. The people could not go back to the old 
days of candles and lard oil lamps, after having experi- 
ence in a substitute, so much superior. It would be like 
going back from civilization to barbarism. And thus the 
trade was at once firmly established. At one mighty 
bound it took its place as one of the great, if not the 
greatest, staples in the world's market, and its success 
was placed beyond a peradventure. 

But the question naturally arises in regard to the flow- 
ing wells, "Will they not fail?" "Can they be looked 
upon as permanent?" Most undoubtedly they will all 
ultimately fail. It cannot be hoped that they will con- 
tinue their spontaneous yield for any great length of 
time, for, from the very principles on which they act, 
they must soon exhaust themselves. True, artesian 
wells flow on from year to year, without exhaustion. 
But they act on different principles. The water from 
them is forced up by the pressure of a fountain head that 
simply forces the water to its own level, and as long as 
the fountain continues the well must flow. But flowing 
wells appear to be due to the simple pressure of gas con- 



154 GENERAL GOOD. 

fined and compressed with the oil, and as soon as this is 
exhausted the well must cease to flow. 

This is not only probable in theory, but has proved 
correct in fact. The history of all flowing wells, so far 
as they have continued long enough to have a history, 
has been, that they have gradually declined in the yield, 
until they have subsided altogether. And this will no 
doubt be the history of every flowing well that will be 
opened. Nor is this an undesirable feature, if we take 
in the interests of the entire oil region at a glance. The 
few who have an interest in these large concerns may 
desire their continuance, yet it would be at the sacrifice 
of smaller or pumping wells ; and a good pumping well 
should satisfy the desires of any reasonable man. The 
whole business would be more equally adjusted, and the 
price of oil be steadier and more regular, if all the wells 
in the oil valleys were operated" by pumps. Still these 
flowing concerns are yet doing good service at times, 
breaking forth and attracting attention to new territory, 
and developing regions where little attention had hitherto 
been directed. 

We need not necessarily suppose that because a well 
ceases to flow the supply has been exhausted. The 
quantity may have been reduced, and the gas withdrawn 
to such a degree that it has no longer sufficient expulsive 
power to force the oil to the surface. In this case a 
pump-barrel and sucker-rods inserted, and the assistance 
of the engine invoked, it may yet prove to be a good 
pumping well. It may do good service still. And his- 
tory corroborates this theory. Almost all the wells 
enumerated, after indulging in ground and lofty tumbling 
for a time, have settled down into regular habits. They 
have sown their wild oats and become regular and or- 



PUMPING A PLOTTING WELL. 155 

derly in their habits, and bid fair to live to a ripe 
and unctuous old age, bearing joy and gladness to those 
whom they serve. 

It is probable, however, that when these wells come 
down to the degree of pumping institutions, they will 
not yield as largely as many that have not aspired to the 
dignity of flowing wells. The supply, it is likely, was 
drawn in the days of their glory from enormous cavities 
that have been chiefly drained, yet still are fed from 
other cavities beneath, by means of small veins or leaders 
in the rock ; and the pump can only withdraw this new 
supply as it is gradually presented by these small aper- 
tures. A well, then, that has yielded in its palmy days 
two or three thousand barrels daily, and comes down to 
ten or fifteen barrels, and this extracted through the 
persuasive power of a pump, may continue to yield, 
unless its crevices become filled up by mechanical means, 
for many years, and prove as valuable as those that have 
been pumping welk from the beginning. 

Attempts have been made at various times to close 
the chambers of flowing wells by means of a stop-cock, 
and thus draw upon their ample resources just as the 
supply was needed, but the attempt did not succeed well. 
The effect was found to be damaging to the well. In 
some cases the supply began to fail and threaten total 
destruction to the value of the well. In such cases, it is 
probable there were connections with other cavities and 
veins that had been pierced by neighboring borers, and 
that through these cavities and the influence of neigh- 
boring wells, the supply was diverted in a different direc- 
tion, and the old channel completely abandoned. Under 
such circumstances, the application of a pump, and con- 
tinuous pumping for a length of time, might recall the 



156 INTERMITTENT WELLS. 

truant oil to its former channel. Ordinarily now the 
workmen prefer letting the oil go to waste if the flow 
precedes the erection of tanks, until they can provide 
means for securing it, rather than run the risk of closing 
the well. Latterly, however, the prudent borer has his 
tanks prepared by the time his well is ready to flow. 

Usually the flow from these wells is steady and regu- 
lar, although pouring out with terrible fury and energy. 
It seems, at times, as though the power was sufficient to 
turn a small mill. But withal it is regular and constant, 
yielding for weeks almost the same quantity from day to 
day, and from hour to hour. Sometimes this yield is 
pure oil, scarcely a trace of water being present. This 
probably depends somewhat upon the correctness and 
security of the tubing, and somewhat upon the nature of 
the rock, as regards the presence of openings and cre- 
vices through which water may be enabled to percolate. 
This seems to be the result particularly in deeper wells, 
and those yielding large quantities of oil. It may de- 
pend somewhat upon the size of the cavity in which the 
oil is found, and the manner in which the vein that is 
struck connects with this cavity. If the connection is 
with that part containing oil, and above the water, the 
result would be pure oil. Often, however, the oil is 
largely mingled with dense salt water, that must be sepa- 
rated in the tank before the oil can be put in packages 
for the market. 

Sometimes there is a kind of intermitting flowing well. 
The oil and gas will flow for a little time, then cease alto- 
gether for about the same length of time, and then flow 
forth as before, presenting all the phenomena of an inter- 
mitting spring. One in particular may be specified for 
the regularity and system of its operations. It will 



THE SUNDAY WELL. 157 

remain quiescent for about fifteen minutes, when there 
would be heard the sound as of fearful agitation far 
down in its depths. This rumbling and strife would then 
appear to approach the surface for a few moments, when 
the petroleum would rush from the orifice, mingled 
with gas and foam, almost with the fury of a round shot 
from a rifled cannon. This furious flow would continue 
for fifteen or twenty minutes, when it would suddenly 
subside, and all would be peace again. This alternate 
rest and motion would continue with great regularity 
day and night, yielding, perhaps, one hundred and fifty 
barrels per day. In other instances there will be inter- 
ruptions of days, and even weeks, when the flow will be 
continued as before. 

In these cases it is possible that there is a peculiar con- 
formation of the veins with relation to the cavities con- 
taining the oil, by which the supply of oil and gas is 
exhausted for a space of time, when the well remains 
quiet until the cavity is filled up again from other 
sources. 

Let the cavity be supposed to contain the three fluids 
as before, but connected with a second cavity by a cre- 
vice at c. If the well, a, pierce the vein, d, it will flow 
until the cavity is nearly emptied, when it will cease until 
the first cavity is refilled from the second. See page 158. 

Perhaps the most singular phenomenon connected with 
flowing wells was what was called the " Sunday well," 
from the fact that it flowed constantly during the week 
days, but ceased on the Sabbath. It was regarded 
with some little superstition by the workmen engaged at 
other wells, but soon ceased to attract much attention, 
further than being regarded as a great curiosity by 
some, and by others as involving a curious and interest- 
14 



153 



PHILOSOPHY OF THE SUNDAY WELL. 



ing philosophical question. No doubt there is a very 
general connection existing between the cavities contain- 
ing oil, by means of veins and small seams running in 
every direction, that affect in a greater or less degree 
the operations of pumping and flowing. Sometimes this 




influence is so slight as to be imperceptible ; at others, it 
is felt in different ways. In the case of the Sunday well, 
the agitation of pumping, and the withdrawal of water 
from particular veins, induced such a condition or equi- 
librium of oil and gas in the cavity underneath, as to 
produce the phenomenon of flowing during the time of 
pumping. On Sabbath the pumping ceases, the agita- 
tion is no longer moving, and stirring, and disturbing 
the labyrinthine veins in the rock, the water accumu-' 
lates and the flow ceases. On Monday morning the agi- 



DECREASE OF FLOWING WELLS. 159 

tation commences, the water is withdrawn, and the 
flowing commences as before ; so that, after all, the 
mysterious operation of this well was but the result of 
counterbalancing forces operating in the cavities beneath. 
Another thought in relation to flowing wells. The 
strong probabilities are, that as the number of wells 
bored in any given locality increases, the number of flow- 
ing wells will decrease, until they cease altogether. If 
they are due to the exhaustive force of the gas impri- 
soned beneath, and there is no room to doubt this, then 
as the number of wells increases the gas will become 
gradually exhausted, or will find new avenues of escape, 
not only from pumping wells, but in wells that are abso- 
lute failures, until the gas force becomes like the bow 
that has been too long held in tension, its power will be 
lost, and pumping wells must be the final dependence. 
This is becoming the case in many places already, and 
will, no doubt, be the case finally throughout the oil 
region. 



CHAPTER XII. 

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. 

As the business began to increase, and its magnitude 
to develop, the question of transportation became a 
very important one. Although not bulky in proportion 
to its value, it has many unpleasant features connected 
with it. Being generally carried in wooden barrels, or 



160 RIVER • TRANSPORTATION. 

"packages," to use the modern term, its penetrating quali- 
ties render these barrels unpleasant and disagreeable in 
the handling and porterage. And as this leakage is 
accompanied by the escape of gas, the transportation is 
attended with considerable danger from fire, involving 
loss of freight, and in the case of steamboats of life itself. 
Still so far no very serious losses have been incurred, 
although special care has been exercised by those en- 
gaged in the business. And the annoyance of working 
among greasy barrels, even, seems to be very readily 
overcome. 

Petroleum appears to have been transported at first in 
small bottles, for a very small portion answered the 
demand. In almost every house a broken pitcher or 
teapot was filled with it and was replenished when 
necessary. Mr. Oary was a bold man in those days to 
cut loose from the old habits of caution and fill two five 
gallon kegs for transportation to Pittsburgh. But bold 
spirits usually open the way for new enterprises, Could 
this early dealer in oil but know of the thousands of 
barrels that now find their way to the same market, 
sometimes in a single week, it would almost cause his 
old bones to rattle in their quiet slumber, near the scene 
of his early enterprise. 

When the business began to develop, the Allegheny 
river was the only way of conveying the product to 
market. The distance to Pittsburgh is about one hun- 
dred and forty miles. Much of the oil was refined 
there, but still more was shipped to Philadelphia, New 
York, and other points. In times of high water steam- 
boats run up to Oil City, and at the same time other 
species of craft run down. Transportation by the river 
is perhaps the cheapest of all modes of reaching the 



FLAT-BOATS. 161 

market ; but in this fast age is a little slow. The steam- 
boats used are of the kind usually termed stern wheels, 
that is propelled by a single wheel which is rigged at the 
stern of the vessel. The petroleum is stored in the hold 
and on the lower deck. Some of these boats carry five 
hundred barrels. The cost of transportation varies ac- 
cording to the number of boats running and the demand 
for carriage ; as in the oil region men are not usually 
slow in taking advantage of circumstances. The price 
ranges from forty cents to one dollar per barrel. 

Another mode of transportation is by loading the oil upon 
rude flat boats, resembling coal boats, or the old " broad 
horns" of the early settlers, and towing them down the 
river with a steam-tug. Sometimes these flats are loaded 
with bituminous coal, far down the Allegheny and towed 
up ; thus realizing a profit both on the upward and re- 
turn voyage, as the same flat answers for both purposes. 
These tugs are a very slow but powerful species of craft, 
small in outline but propelled by powerful engines, that 
in their own peculiar way enable them to perform good 
service in this kind of business. One of these tugs will 
sometimes convey to market three thousand barrels of 
oil. 

The flat-boats have always been an institution on this 
river and were not slow to avail themselves of the new 
business that has fallen in their way. They are often 
towed by horses up the current, and allowed to float 
down with the current Horses are attached by very 
long lines, and sometimes walk on the shore, and at 
other times in the stream itself. Whenever the water is 
deep, and it is desirable to change the motive power to 
the opposite side of the stream, the horses are taken on 
board and transported to the other side. Sometimes 
14* 



1G2 BULKS. 

these flat-boats are pushed up the stream by the boatmen 
themselves ; or, as they term it, " make progress moving 
backwards." The boatman with a long pole set in the 
bottom of the stream, and with the other end braced 
firmly against his shoulder, commences at the bow of 
the boat and walks slowly towards the stern, pushing as 
he goes. He then walks back and repeats the operation. 
Several men being engaged in this work, on each side of 
the boat, the unwieldy craft moves slowly and regularly 
forward. 

There is another species of craft that is pressed into 
the service, which is more primitive in its construction. 
It is formed of two gunnels hewn or sawed from a log, 
with the ends cut so as to turn upwards like sled-runners. 
These are connected together by scantling and a bottom 
spiked on. Studding is then set up along the sides or 
gunnels, and rough boards spiked to these, and after being 
rudely caulked the boat is ready for use. Oil barrels are 
rolled in, when the crew set out on the voyage, float- 
ing with the current, but under the charge of a com- 
petent pilot, who is supposed to be familiar with the 
channel to Pittsburgh, as well as every rock, and bend, 
and eddy throughout the whole course of the river. 
During moonlight nights these craft " run all night ;" 
but when it is dark and the weather stormy they gene- 
rally "tie up" at some well known eddy, and wait until 
morning. These craft do not often find their way back, 
being converted to other uses, and sometimes broken up 
for the lumber they contain. 

But the oil trade has given birth to some new and 
original inventions. These have grown out of the neces- 
sities of the case. Barrels are sometimes scarce, and 
latterly always high in price. The river is often too 



LADDER-FLOATS. 163 

low for steamboats, and as something must take the place 
of these larger craft, some inventive genius suggested, 
and carried out the suggestion, of constructing what are 
called bulk boats. These are rude affairs, but answer a 
good purpose, They are made of two inch plank about 
sixteen feet square and from two to three feet in depth ; 
divided internally by planks into bulk-heads of perhaps 
four feet square, to prevent any undue agitation of the 
contents by the motion of the boat. Sometimes these 
bulks are entirely decked over, so that the boatman 
walks upon the top to manage his boat. These boats 
sometimes have the oil pumped into them at the well, 
and are run to Pittsburgh without further expense than 
the cost of running them to market. When the oil is 
pumped from them they are broken up, and the material 
used for kindling wood, the process through which it has 
gone adapting it eminently for that purpose. 

After this, there- is a rude nondescript that surely was 
never dreamed of outside the oil region. It consists of 
a series of rough ladders constructed of tall saplings. 
These ladders are moored in the water, and between 
each pair of rounds is placed a barrel of oil, floating in 
the water, but kept in position by its hamper. A num- 
ber of these ladders are lashed together, until the float 
contains several hundred barrels of oil. These unprom- 
ising fixtures, as well as the unwieldy bulks spoken of 
are often, during favorable weather, run to Pittsburgh 
with entire safety. To assist in this crazy kind of navi- 
gation the services of the old lumber pilots are called 
i-/o requisition. Their training, in the days of lumber- 
ing and running pig metal, had rendered them thoroughly 
familiar with the river; but this trade had failed, and 
many of them were distressed that their occupation was 



164 POND FRESHETS. 

gone. The advent of this new trade, then, was hailed 
with joy, as it afforded the opportunity of revisiting their 
old haunts again, and of facing the storm, and naviga- 
ting their craft through the dangers once more. 

A peculiar institution in connection with water navi- 
gation is the "pond freshets" in Oil creek. It has been 
quickened into life by the necessities of the business. 
The wells extend along the creek for a distance of fifteen 
miles from its mouth. The yield is enormous, and, as 
yet, land carriage is difficult and expensive. The valley 
is narrow, and the stream tortuous, and in many places 
the ground soft and yielding ; added to this teams are 
obliged to cross and recross the stream continually. The 
creek itself is too small for navigation, except at occasional 
times during natural freshets. A railroad has been pro- 
posed down the valley from Titusville to Oil city, but the 
enterprise is of doubtful utility, as there are difficulties in 
the way that at present seem insuperable. The narrow- 
ness of the valley renders every available foot of land 
valuable for boring purposes, so that it would be difficult 
to locate a road that would not come in conflict with 
some individual's pet boring spot. The danger from fire 
would, however, be the chief difficulty in the way, as 
columns of gas are rising continually from the wells, 
which might at any time change this rich valley to a river 
of fire and death. 

To compensate for all these difficulties a system of 
artificial navigation has been adopted. Before the ad- 
vent of the oil business there was a considerable trade in 
lumber down Oil creek and its tributaries, and many f iw 
mills were in operation that were driven by water-power. 
Most of these mills had fallen into disuse. Timber 
had become scarce, and there was no longer the same 



FLEET OF OIL BOATS. 165 

demand upon them. But the dams still remained, and 
were now pressed into a new service, of which their 
original builders never dreamed. Perhaps in all there 
are five or six of these dams, constructed with draws in 
the centre so that they can easily be opened at the proper 
time. By means of these dams, the water is collected 
and retained, so that "pond freshets" are arranged 
about two days in the week. The day and the hour are 
arranged beforehand for these artificial floods, and the 
oil men have every thing in readiness. At the appointed 
hour the upper dams are opened, and then as the flood 
pours down others below them give way adding to the 
volume, until the miniature tide has increased to a 
river. At each landing it receives its tribute of boats, 
until as the fleet approaches the mouth of the creek it 
numbers often times over two hundred boats, bearing 
with them from eight to ten thousand barrels of petro- 
leum. 

The advent of this fleet of oil boats at the mouth of 
the river is in the highest degree spirited and exciting. 
As boat after boat rushes into the river, there is the 
dashing to and fro of the boatmen, rapidly handling 
their sweeps, to avoid running ashore on the one hand, 
and against the piers of the bridge on the other. Some- 
times the danger is from Scylla, and sometimes from 
Charybdis, and sometimes it is received from both in 
quick succession. Men are shouting their orders on 
board the boats, and multitudes, who have collected on 
shore as spectators, shout their applause in all directions 
until the excitement becomes intense. 

Here and there a collision occurs, that often results in 
the crushing of the feebler boat and the indiscriminate 



1C6 PERILS OF THE TRIP. 

mingling of boatmen, fragments of the broken craft, oil 
and the fixtures of the boat in one common ruin. 

11 Apparent rari nantea in gurgite vasto; 

Arma virium, tabulseque et Troia gaza per undas." 

A heavy oak barge running into a frail bulk con- 
structed of pine planks, will pierce it as though its walk 
were simple paper, or two such barges will often crush 
the feeble little flat between them as they would an egg- 
shell, when the boatmen are forced to take an unwilling 
bath in the water, and sometimes in the petroleum itself 
Often two or three boats are thus wrecked and the con- 
tents lost at a single pond freshet, involving, of course, 
a serious loss, yet it is one of the risks of the business 
that must be placed as an offset to greater gains in othei 
directions. 

In this fleet the form and variety of boats beggars all 
description. Sometimes there is the orthodox flat-boat 
with iron-bound barrels, with a show of respectability 
around it, and disposed to put on airs like a well-dressed 
swell in the midst of a crowd of ragged loafers. Nexi 
will follow a rude scow, and close upon it an unwieldy 
bulk, into which the oil has been pumped at the well, 
and, perhaps, bringing up the rear an unmanageable 
ladder-float, although these latter have lately been ostra- 
cised from the creek from their disposition to inflict 
damage and shipwreck upon the more respectable class 
of boats. 

This extemporized navigation is kept up and regulated 
by a kind of code of honor. Written laws and legal 
enactments have not yet learned of its existence. By a 
mutual understanding each oil producer along the creek 
pays a share of the expense in proportion to the amount 



ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD. 167 

of oil shipped. This is at the rate of about five cents 
per barrel. Before a pond freshet is to come off an agent 
visits the wells and collects this amount from those who 
propose availing themselves of its benefits, and in this 
way the labor and care necessary to keep the matter in 
order is compensated. 

After the oil produced by this pond freshet reaches Oil 
city, it is in part shipped down the river to Pittsburgh, in 
a manner already described, and in part is sent in other 
directions. River navigation is tedious, and for shippers 
to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or the West the 
route is a very circuitous one. Better facilities are 
therefore looked for. Besides a large portion of the year 
the river is not navigable. Sometimes in the winter it 
is ice-bound for months, while in summer it frequently 
becomes so low as to be fordable, when the smallest craft 
must be laid up from use. 

Soon after the business began to enlarge and prosper, 
a new link in the 'great railroad system of the country 
was completed that at once promised relief. This was 
the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, extending 
from Salamanca on the the Erie Railway on the East, 
and connecting with the Western roads in Ohio, form- 
ing a connection with New York on the east and the 
Mississippi and beyond on the west. This road passed 
within twenty-five miles of Franklin, and the idea was 
suggested of building a branch road from Meadville to 
the latter place. The project was a feasible one, inas- 
much as the route lay immediately down the valley of 
French creek, the portion of which was already graded 
for the tow-path of the old Franklin canal. 

But withal the company approached the enterprise 
with great fear and trembling. There was plenty of 



168 IMPORTANCE OF FRANKLIN BRANCH. 

petroleum just then ; but who would insure its continu- 
ance? The wells were yielding satisfactorily, but the 
bottom might, and probably would, fall out of them very 
suddenly, and then where would be the trade. The fear 
was before them that in the course of events the time 
might arrive when the road would be left naked and 
bare like the old dismantled oil derricks that were to be 
seen so plentifully along the banks of French creek, as a 
warning and a terror to all railroad companies, too much 
given to doubtful enterprises. 

The enterprise was thought over, however, and inqui- 
ries put afloat as to whether Venango county was 
possessed of coal or any thing else that would afford a 
living trade when petroleum gave out But these inqui- 
ries were bootless, for Venango then, as now, could only 
point to her oil w T ells, and cry out with the Roman matron, 
as she exhibited her children, " Behold, these are my 
jewels l M 

Notwithstanding, the branch was completed, and soon 
assumed, not the place of a branch but the main trunk, 
both in freight and passengers ; actually shipping as 
high as two thousand barrels per day. This road is on 
the broad guage principle, and, although the Franklin 
branch is a little slow from peculiar circumstances, yet 
the main trunk is admirably arranged and managed, 
and withal one of the most comfortable roads to travel 
upon in the United States. The Franklin branch was 
first built from Meadville to Franklin, but has recently 
been extended to Oil City. Before this extension was 
made oil w r as brought in boats from Oil creek to Franklin, 
and then shipped on board the cars. When the roads 
are favorable, an immense quantity of oil is still drawn 
in wagons from the Oil creek valley to Franklin. It is 



TEAMS TO FRANKLIN. 1G9 

brought from the wells along the creek for six or seven 
miles above the mouth, making from twelve to fifteen 
miles the whole distance. As many as three hundred 
teams are engaged in this business, lining often the 
whole distance from Oil City to Franklin. The load for 
two horses depends on the condition of the road ; but as 
it is down grade, it is usually from five to seven and 
even eight barrels. The price of hauling, too, varies 
with circumstances, as the distance, condition of the 
roads, and the activity of the market. Generally for 
the distance of twelve miles, the price paid is about two 
and a half dollars per barrel. 

A railway car usually contains from fifty to sixty 
barrels, and the freight from Franklin to New York by 
this route is about three dollars. At Corry, forty miles 
east of Meadville, the Atlantic and Great Western rail- 
road crosses the Philadelphia and Erie, where freight 
can be transferred for the Philadelphia market ; but as 
the guages are different, there must be a trans-shipment 
from the cars of the one to those of the other. 

Another mode of transportation, is from the upper 
portion of Oil creek by way of Titusville. The Oil 
Creek railroad extends from Corry, (where the Atlan- 
tic and Great Western and Philadelphia and Erie rail- 
roads intersect,) through Titusville to the Shaffer farm, 
five miles below. By this route a larger amount of oil 
has probably found its way to market than by any other. 
The shipments in 1864 amounted to 284,415 barrels. It 
is in contemplation to extend this road down the valley 
to Oil City, with what success this plan can be carried 
out, remains to be seen, as the obstacles in the way are 
very great. It would add very much to the convenience 
15 



170 NEW ROUTES IN PROSPECT. 

and vigor of the oil trade if it could be done, and would 
be most advantageous to all parties concerned. 

There are some other railroad projects on foot that 
will no doubt be carried out with success. The Frank- 
lin and Jamestown link is already in process of comple- 
tion, and will, no doubt, soon be opened to trade and 
travel. It is to connect Franklin with the Pittsburgh 
and Erie Eailroad at Jamestown, Mercer county. This 
will not only shorten the route to Pittsburgh, but open a 
new route to Cleveland — no mean competitor with some 
of her Eastern sisters in the oil trade — as well as other 
points in the West. 

Another project still, is to continue the Allegheny 
Valley Eailroad, already completed to Kittanning, from 
this point to Franklin. The distance to Pittsburgh by 
this route will be about one hundred and twenty miles ; 
that by the way of Jamestown, about one hundred and 
thirty. 

Other routes are suggested, but they are too far in the 
dim distance to be spoken of confidently or particularly. 
As the business enlarges and develops, new routes will 
be projected and opened as the exigencies of the time 
and occasion may demand. 

In regard to the place where a market is sought, cir- 
cumstances usually determine the destination. New 
York, of course, must always carry off the palm, from 
her unequalled facilities for exporting. It is the great 
centre of trade, too, and it is but reasonable that it 
should bring its advantages to bear in this important 
trade. Boston, being the first of the Eastern cities that 
entered heartily into the businesses still holding its own, 
as its enterprise and liberal views entitle it to do. Phi- 
ladelphia, being of more sober and deliberate character, 



DIRECTION OF SHIPMENTS. 171 

was dilatory in its efforts, but is attracting much of the 
business in its own direction. To Pittsburgh naturally 
belongs a large portion of the trade and influence, as 
well from its proximity to the oil region as to the conve- 
nience of transportation. It is still doing a fair share of 
the business legitimately belonging to the petroleum 
trade. Cleveland also comes in for a fair proportion of 
the shipments of oil. 

The location of the companies that are operating influ- 
ences to a certain extent the direction of the product. 
Sometimes companies operating in the oil region, are en- 
gaged in refining at home, and in this way are induced 
to bring the product of their wells to the location of their 
refineries. This is especially the case where the product 
is not extensive. A Cleveland, Buffalo, or Pittsburgh 
company will naturally ship toward their own centre of 
influence, and in this way the interests of many parties 
are subserved. The influence of capital and enterprise, 
as well as the demand for labor, is disseminated through- 
out the country. 

Still a large proportion of the product of the oil wells 
is uncontrolled by influences of this kind. Where there 
is a large quantity of any valuable product it naturally 
and unfailingly seeks the best market. And that is the 
best market, other things being equal, where the best 
price is obtained, the most ready and constant demand, 
and the best facilities for reaching it. In these respects 
the seaboard cities must, of course, be pre-eminent, as 
the foreign market is now, and must still continue to 
make demand upon the: production. 

As to the first change of hands, great diversity pre- 
vails. Originally almost all oil was sold at the wells, 
and this, too, very soon after its leaving the regions be- 



172 CENTRALIZATION. 

low. The necessities of early companies and operators 
required them to dispose of their oil as soon as possible, 
but as the business has gradually assumed a new form, 
and larger capital is investing in it, this necessity no 
longer exists. Many companies ship their own oil to the 
sea-board, and even to foreign ports. There is still, how- 
ever, much changing of hands in the movement of oil. 
There are parties who purchase at the wells and sell at 
Oil City or Franklin, and ship on their own account. 
There are oil brokers, likewise, at these points that buy 
to sell again, with no intention of shipping ; so that the 
business is diversified in its character. The whole ten- 
dency, however, is towards centralization. Capital will 
have its influence, especially where that capital is accom- 
panied by enterprise and energy, as is the case pre-emi- 
nently in this business. It is, perhaps, a foregone con- 
clusion, that as time rolls by, the influence, as far as 
money is concerned, of this trade will be transferred to 
the cities, and less felt in the immediate region where 
the wealth is developed. The labor is small at best, and 
as facilities are multiplied for developing and carrying to 
market, less labor will be required, and less expenditure 
involved in transferring the product to the great markets 
in the East. 



FORMER OPERATIONS. 173 



GHAPTER XIII. 

FRANKLIN, FRENCH CREEK, AND SUGAR CREEK. 

It was not long after the fortunate strike of Colonel 
Drake on Oil creek, before the matter of boring was sug- 
gested in the town of Franklin. When the news of the 
first success was spread abroad, the feeling expressed was 
that of willingness to be a partner or even a relative of 
the successful oil miner. But soon the idea was ad- 
vanced that other efforts might be equally successful. 
Men began to cast about and inquire for oil springs and 
places where the oil exuded, even in small quantities, 
from the rock. In Franklin these indications were nu- 
merous and unmistakable. Some were in the wells of 
water, some in the bed of the creek, and some near its 
banks, giving tokens that were most encouraging and 
inspiring. 

Companies were organized in an informal way, large 
and cumbrous, but the plan was to develop the resources 
of the place. In the meantime many a sweet golden 
dream was privately indulged in, that would prove a 
glowing reality after a while, when the matter should be 
developed. Had not the first oil well yielded forty bar- 
rels daily? Was not each barrel worth forty dollars? 
And why should not the same success attend operations 
in Franklin, with a much better "surface show" than 
where this first great success had been achieved ? And 
15* 



174 NUMBER OF WELLS. 

would not the dividend, even in a company of tiity, oe a 
handsome sum from such a well ? 

Operations were commenced, sometimes by large com- 
panies, sometimes by small ones. Sometimes these com- 
panies were formed by citizens of Franklin, and often by 
strangers, until it seemed that the town was effectually 
aroused from the long sleep that had been almost like 
that of Eip Van Winkle in Sleepy Hollow. In the 
course of the summer succeeding the first successful ex- 
periment on Oil creek, there were not less than two hun- 
dred wells in different stages of progress in the town of 
Franklin alone. Wells were being bored in gardens, in 
door-yards, and even in some gases in the bottoms of 
wells from which water had been procured for household 
purposes. So numerous were the tall derricks, that a 
profane river-man made the remark that the people of 
Franklin must be remarkably pious, as almost every 
third man seemed to be building a " meeting-house" 
with a tall steeple near his dwelling. At one time there 
were in Franklin fifteen productive wells, yielding a 
daily aggregate of one hundred and twenty barrels. 

The first well that was found productive in Franklin 
has become historical. It has been placed in the annals 
of petroleum history, and will go down to succeeding 
generations side by side with other "first things" that 
have become immortal. This well was known as " the 
celebrated Evans well," and was the third successful 
well that was bored — Drake's being first, and McClin- 
tock's second, both on Oil creek. 

It was, in some respects, the most remarkable well 
in all the region. It was sunk by its proprietor in the 
bottom of the well that had long been used for house- 
hold purposes. He was induced to choose this spot from 



EVANS'S WELL. 175 

the fact that a trace of oil was generally found on its 
surface, particularly in summer, when the water was 
low. Another thing that induced him to think that oil 
would be found on his premises, was the fact that on the 
bank of French creek, that was skirted by his lot, a 
small oil vein was constantly yielding a limited supply, 
which had been sufficient for the wants of his family and 
of the neighbors. Times have changed since then. The 
wants of the people are greater now than formerly. It 
requires a flowing well to satisfy them. 

An humble house and lot constituted the entire 
worldly wealth of this worthy man. The work in the 
well, too, was performed entirely by his own family. 
Being a blacksmith, he constructed his own boring im- 
plements, as well as kept them in order, and was de- 
pendent on no outside assistance. Patiently and assidu- 
ously did the blacksmith and his sons toil on, as they 
had seldom toiled before, the former guiding the drill, 
and the latter applying the power by hand, in the use 
of a very simple spring-pole arrangement. All wished 
for their success, but many doubted it. The old salt- 
borers who were operating elsewhere looked wise and 
shook their heads. His simple apparatus and want of 
experience would certainly bring disaster and disappoint- 
ment ; — so they argued. It was "red tape" against 
honest yet unsystematic effort. 

Thus they went on until, at the depth of only seventy- 
two feet in the rock, they struck a crevice that promised 
to pour them out rivers of oil. In attempting to enlarge 
this the drill broke, the fragment remaining in the 
cavity, and, for the time, resisting every effort used for 
its removal. The well was then tubed, and a hand- 
pump inserted, when it was found to yield at the rate 



176 GENERAL DEPTH. 

of ten or fifteen barrels per day. The labor of pumping 
was great, however, and the work was not kept up con- 
tinuously. The excitement attending this development 
was very great. Crowds visited the well daily, and an 
almost constant levee was held around the pump and 
tank that received the oily treasure. Speculation soon 
began to run wild, and the fortunate owner of this well, 
among other propositions, received an offer of fifty thou- 
sand dollars for his well. Here was treasure, such as he 
had never dreamed of, placed within his grasp. But it' 
was of no avail. To all these tempting offers he per- 
sistently made the same reply — that he had bored that 
well for his own use, and that if others wished a well, 
they could do as he had done ; the sites were numerous, 
they could bore wells for themselves. 

Oil was generally found around Franklin at the depth 
of about three hundred feet from the surface for pump- 
ing wells ; in the valley of Oil creek the same stratum 
was reached at about half that depth, intimating that 
the rock had a dip or inclination to the southwest. In 
all these attempts, whether successful as oil wells or not, 
a strong body of salt water was obtained, that added 
greatly to the facility of separating the oil, by its in- 
creased gravity. Hitherto the business had been pur- 
sued with encouragement and profit, to those who were 
engaged. The demand was steady, prices remunerative, 
and visions of untold wealth were looming up before 
the minds of operators, when the shock came that shut 
up at once all small wells, and suspended all further 
operations. This was the opening of the flowing wells 
on Oil creek that brought down the price of oil, so that 
it was not worth the coal necessary to pump it from the 
rock. 



A PANIC IN OIL. 177 

Here was another panic. Previously there had been 
a general stampede towards the oil regions, and Franklin 
had been the Mecca from many directions; now the 
stampede was the other way. Wells were abandoned 
that had been prosecuted with encouragement, and leases 
forfeited without an effort to retain them against better 
times. Lots that had been purchased at high prices 
were sacrificed. Instances can be pointed out where the 
disappointment and disgust were so great at this new 
feature, as to lead not only to the abandonment of the 
lease and derrick, but to the boring implements them- 
selves. In one or two instances they remain in the dis- 
mantled derrick until this day. 

But worse, than this. In many instances companies 
owning wells that were yielding from three to six barrels, 
removed their machinery, abandoned their leases, and 
left the country. They thought the days of small wells 
were numbered, and that they could never be success- 
fully worked again. During the last year some of these 
abandoned wells have been yielding from seventy-five 
to one hundred and fifty dollars per day. By this un- 
toward course of events, vast sums of money, gathered 
all over the country, were sacrificed, much of which 
might have been saved with care and foresight. But 
the history of the oil business thus far has been but a 
succession of different kinds of excitements. Men are 
not content to make money slowly and by patient wait- 
ing in the oil business, as in other walks of life. Wealth 
must come at once, or they are discouraged and dis- 
heartened, and abandon the field. 

The region around Franklin and the flats of French 
creek has never been fully tested. It was just in the 
full tide of boring, and before any one had reached the 



178 CHARACTER OF OIL. 

third sand rock, that the discouragement, growing out 
of the opening of flowing wells came upon the business 
here, and all effort ceased at once. In Franklin these 
efforts have not been resumed ; with the exception that 
several wells are now successfully pumped. In addition 
to this, there was another ground of discouragement. The 
theory got afloat on the public mind, that no oil would be 
found in the sand rock or below it ; and very few had the 
courage to go below three hundred feet. If no oil was 
discovered at that depth the general disposition was to 
abandon the search, and try some new location. At this 
depth many wells yielded a few barrels a day for a time, 
and then run down to one, or ceased altogether. This 
induced many a hopeful operator to settle down on the 
opinion that Franklin was rather on the outskirts of the 
oil region, than in its rentral basin. 

There is another feature of the operations here that 
induces to the belief that this region has not been fairly 
tested, and that is the character of the oil produced. It 
is uniformly a heavy oil, from 30° to 33°; w T hilst that 
from the flowing wells on Oil creek is from 40° to 50°; 
implying that Franklin and French creek oil is of a sur- 
face character, and has found its way up through seams 
and fissures from the deeper oil strata beneath. The fact 
has already been noticed that the general inclination or 
dip of the rock strata is toward the southwest. This 
would lead to the supposition that when the third or 
fourth sand rock is pierced here, flowing wells may be 
discovered that will amply reward the persevering ex- 
perimenter. 

The character of the oil in Franklin and on French 
creek adapts it rather for lubricating than refining pur- 
poses. It was, at first, rather undervalued, as not yield- 



FRENCH CEEEK. 179 

ing a large per centage of illuminating fluid ; but soon 
began to rise in the market as a valuable lubricator, 
being used for many kinds of machinery without any 
preparation whatever. It now commands a ready market 
at prices more than double that of the deep wells of Oil 
creek. To the operator this is a great advantage. The 
saving in handling, in barrels, in freight, and other 
things add very materially to the margin of profit on 
even small wells producing heavy oil. 

French creek is one of the important tributaries of the 
Allegheny, emptying into it at Franklin. Its general fea- 
tures would indicate a geological structure of the country 
• favorable to the development of petroleum. The valley 
on the eastern side has considerable width, and the 
banks, in places, present a rough and fractured condi- 
tion of the rocks. It has moreover, from time imme- 
morial, been noted for its " surface indications." 

Like Franklin it has had its discouraging experiences. 
The tide of imperfect experiment swept down the valley 
in 1860, leaving behind it little except blackened der- 
ricks, the remains of shanties, and the shattered masonry 
that told where engines had been set. Still a number 
of successful wells were opened during the first year of 
active operations, which have been producing regularly 
and faithfully to the present time. There ar°e now 
(March, I860,) on the banks of French creek some six 
or seven producing wells yielding oil of some 31° in 
gravity. 

During the past summer almost all the lands on French 
creek, for a distance of twelve miles above Franklin, 
have been purchased and placed in joint stock com- 
panies, and every means that capital and enterprise can 
bring to bear will be expended in their development during 



180 patchel's run — SUGAR creek. 

the next season. A deep well, sunk in the neghborhood 
of the old forge, produced a very thin, light colored oil, 
indicating that, under favorable circumstances in devel- 
oping, this region may yield largely of the lighter oils 
when the proper depth is attained. 

Patchel's run is a small stream that puts into French 
creek, about one and a half miles above Franklin, and 
runs in the general direction of Oil and Sugar creeks. 
At its mouth are some of the most productive wells on 
French creek. From the broken and precipitous char- 
acter of its bed there is ground to believe that at some 
future day it will prove to be one of the desirable regions 
for mining. Its lands have already been brought into 
the market. 

Eight miles from Franklin, on the western side of 
French creek, is an important tributary called Mill 
creek. It is a rapid, brawling stream rushing down 
amid the hills, with here and there indications that 
amidst its broken rocks the treasure is but biding its 
time, and will ere long manifest its presence. The lands 
along this stream have been nearly all purchased for oil 
purposes, and will ere long be developed. At the mouth 
of this stream Utica is situated, a thriving village, hope- 
ful and full of enterprise. Two and a half miles further 
up, is another stream called Deer creek, coming in from 
Mercer county, and is now attracting the attention of oil 
men. 

Sugar creek is an important branch of French creek, 
joining it about two miles from Franklin. It runs in a 
northerly direction through some of the finest portions 
of Venango county. The Sugar Creek valley has always 
been celebrated for its fine farms, and thrifty farmers. 
In this respect it affords a striking contrast to the terri- 



FIRST WELL ON SUGAR CREEK. 181 

tory along the Allegheny and some portions of Oil 
creek. In the latter places the doctrine of compensation 
seems wonderfully illustrated; in the former, if it should 
ultimately prove to be good oil territory, the evidence 
of the goodness of Providence would seem to be cumu- 
lative. 

It is but recently that much attention has been paid 
to this region as an oil producing section ; still as long 
as three years ago a well was put down by Joseph Mc- 
Calmont, on his own premises, about two miles and a 
half above the mouth of the creek. This well was bored 
by water-power, taken from a small spring run, and with 
very imperfect machinery. It was bored only about 
three hundred and twelve feet deep, reaching the second 
sand rock. During the three years some three or four 
hundred barrels of oil have been drawn from this well. 
It is of a dark, heavy character, and at the present time 
much sought for, in the market, as a lubricating oil. 
The well has only been worked at intervals. Sometimes 
the water was not sufficient, as in times of drouth, and 
sometimes, as after the flowing well panic, the price of 
oil would not justify the proprietor in pumping even by 
water-power. The probabilities are, that if an engine 
was employed, and the operation of pumping kept up 
steadily and perseveringly, a larger yield of oil would 
be the result. As it is, a yield of four to six barrels 
daily would be a more productive source of income than 
the best farm on Sugar creek. 

From this well up to Cooperstown, some two miles, 
preparations are making to test the rocks effectually. 
Many wells are going down with encouraging tokens of 
success. In the neighborhood of Cooperstown a well 
has been going down with constant evidence of the 
1G 



182 GREAT PROMISE. 

presence of oil until it has attained the depth of six 
hundred feet. What the ultimate result may be cannot 
be told ; but the constant, universal presence of oil in 
this valley, whenever the sand rock has been pierced, 
and even the stratum above, must be evidence of its 
existence in large quantities below. 

Recently a new well has been opened on Homan's 
flats, about three miles from Franklin, that has brought 
Sugar creek into the very vortex of the excitement. 
This well is about three hundred and fifty feet in depth, 
and was not at all promising at the first tubing. There 
was oil, but not the rushing flow of the Oil Creek valley. 
It was tubed and the pump put in operation, but for 
some two weeks operations were very discouraging. The 
yield was a steady stream of water ; but, at the end of 
two weeks froth and foam began to appear, and then oil, 
until, by steady improvement, it yielded from fifty to 
sixty barrels per day. The vein pierced was, no doubt, 
connected with a distant oil cavity, and it required long 
and persistent pumping in order to exhaust the water. 

This new feature is most encouraging to operators who 
are commencing at a distance from large wells, and has 
been the means of calling attention to territory previ- 
ously under valued. 



FIBST IN THE FIELD. 183 



OHAPTEE XIV, 



OIL CREEK. 



As yet Oil creek is the most important region in all 
the Oil valley, or in all the wide world. Nor is it an 
unreasonable supposition that it will so continue. If we 
take into consideration the antiquity of the develop- 
ments along this creek, the magnitude and splendor of 
its resources as brought to light during the past few 
years, and the unabated richness of the product in the 
present, we are safe in the conclusion that here nature 
has lavishly provided for the wants of the present and 
coming generations. 

This region was first in the field as oil territory. Here 
the great oil springs were worked with profit, and the 
first well bored in the rock. To this region the first at- 
tention was directed from abroad, as the value and im- 
portance of the product began to dawn upon the country. 
It was but natural that attention should be attracted 
first to the new well, as though its neighborhood was the 
only place where oil might be expected. It was natural, 
also, that the next thought should be, that in the vicinity 
of the lower oil springs on the McGlir tock farm, success 
equally good might be obtained, and then in general 
that wherever oil springs were found at the surface, oil 
might be expected in the rock below. It was not strange, 



184 EARLY PRESTIGE. 

then, that the principal attention was directed to Oil 
creek both at home and abroad. 

The success of the first efforts on Oil creek, too, encour- 
aged all comers to seek locations beside new wells that 
were yielding oil. The first two wells that were bored 
were successful. Drake's well, yielding from ten to forty 
barrels per day, and McClintock's, lower down on the 
creek, yielding still more, induced the expectation that 
wherever the rock was pierced to a depth of seventy feet 
there would be a successful well. This early prestige 
gave this region a popularity and an importance that it 
has never lost. It was recognized as the child of fortune, 
petted and spoiled somewhat, but still in boundless favor. 

But another reason for the early favor that was shown 
to this region, was from the name the early fathers had 
given this stream. It was a proper name, a significant 
name, and one to which it was richly entitled, and yet it 
had a persuasive power that was boundless in influencing 
early operators in selecting a site for their operations. 
True, authority, to which we all yield in the general, is 
somewhat against this idea : — 

" What's in a name ? that which we call a rose 
By any other name would smell as sweet." 

Yet it is somewhat doubtful whether, if any other name 
had been applied to Oil creek, it would have appeared 
so unctuous and so promising for the pursuit of the petro- 
leum business. The natural reflection of most persons 
would have been, that they were seeking for oil, and what 
place or valley so favorable for this pursuit as the valley 
of Oil creek. And so the multitudes sought this valley, 
assured that it was the best possible location for boring 
wells. 



NATURAL FEATURES. 185 

And there was reason for selecting this above all other 
places for "the business in hand. Here oil had always 
manifested itself; here were many successful wells; here 
was Oil creek, above all other names the one to encour- 
age and cheer, during the long days and weeks when the 
drill was forcing its way downwards. 

And this region has never disappointed the expecta- 
tions that were formed concerning it. It has uniformly 
proved true to its ancient fame and time-honored name. 
If there have been failures, there have been unbounded 
successes. If many a man has left this region poorer 
than when he came, his experience has been the excep- 
tion and not the rule. Colossal fortunes have been made 
here in a short time, but yet fortune is not designed for 
all men, and many fail of realizing their expectations 
even here. 

The natural features of the valley of Oil creek have 
great variety. Near the mouth, the valley has expanded 
so as to form quite a little extent of flat land, and, in for- 
mer times, a single row of farms extended up the valley 
that were quite productive. From here up, the land ia 
more broken, and in places the hills on either side ap- 
proach each other, leaving but a small extent of flat land, 
and again the hills recede, forming a wide valley, with 
the creek sometimes on one side and sometimes on the 
other, until Titusville is reached, fifteen or sixteen miles 
above the mouth of the creek. 

The stream is very tortuous, winding in every direc- 
tion, and rendering it necessary that a passage up or 
down the valley should be one continued series of cross- 
ing and recrossing its muddy,- oily current. The hills on 
either side, though generally steep or rather precipitous, 
are usually covered with soil that sustains a growth of 
16* 



186 PRODUCTIVENESS. 

bushes and trees. It is very seldom that the rock crops 
out from the face of the bluffs. These hills are frequent- 
ly cut on either side by ravines, through which streams 
of water find their way to the creek. Some of these 
streams, although disregarded at first, have proved quite 
as valuable for oil purposes as the most notable portions 
on the creek, and this, too, far up above the level of the 
valleys. 

The general productiveness of the Oil Creek valley 
varies considerably. It is not scattered over its whole 
extent that we find those enormous wells that seemed at 
one time as though they would deluge the whole land, 
but generally congregated together in particular locali- 
ties. There is one region, of about four or six miles in 
extent, that resembles the milky-way where the stars seem 
massed and wedged together; yet, withal, unlike the 
milky-way in another respect, for they are stars of the 
first magnitude. This is in the region of the McElhaney, 
Foster, and Hyde & Egbert farms, where we find con- 
gregated the Funk, Sherman, Empire, Maple Shade, 
Noble, Jersey, Coquette, and other wells, a grand and 
noble constellation, that have yielded their products most 
lavishly. 

Still this is no indication that other portions of the 
land along the creek may not prove equally valuable. 
Portions of land that were once denominated the " Dry- 
diggings," as the Story farm, have proved as valuable as 
any other portion, whilst other portions, once the favorite 
resort, have, for a time, lost their popularity, to regain it 
by new and more successful developments. 

The flowing wells, that have made the business so fa- 
mous, were first opened in the valley, and are still a 
most important feature connected with it. Although the 



CHANGE FROM FLOWING TO PUMPING. 187 

eariler ones have ceased to flow, yet new ones are taking 
their places from time to time, so that the supply is kept 
up with considerable regularity. In the meantime, many 
of the wells that flowed until the yield was absolutely 
enormous, assumed the form of pumping wells, and are 
now worked successfully in this way. Other wells are 
opened that have not the natural characteristics that 
cause them to flow, and yet yield plentifully by the use 
of the pumps. Sometimes these wells interfere with one 
another, though this is not a frequent result. It is a bare 
possibility for two parties to strike the same vein, and in 
this case the one nearest the grand cavity will have the 
advantage. But this does not often happen, even where 
the derricks are planted as thickly almost as the trees in 
the forest, because these veins, as a general thing, seem 
to run vertically rather than horizontally. No doubt 
they run in every direction, yet their general course is 
vertical, leading from the great reservoir below towards 
the surface, ramifying as they proceed, and, of course, 
becoming smaller until they reach the upper stratum of 
rock, and some of them even the surface. If we take this 
view of the nature of the structure below, we may well 
suppose that the cases of interference will be few in com- 
parison with the whole number of wells. And the history 
of oil operations, where numerous wells have been put 
down in near proximity to each other, bears out this view 
of the case. 

The whole number of wells producing oil is not easily 
estimated, as many are productive, or may be rendered 
so by proper care, but are remaining quiet from various 
causes. Sometimes there is a conflict in title, or ma- 
chinery is defective, or parties are called away from vari- 
ous causes. But the number is steadily increasing, and 



188 BLOOD FARM — STORY FARM. 

the supply of oil kept up. This supply has been rather 
constant for the last three years. If the business has 
grown dull through low prices and the scarcity of fuel, it 
has been counterbalanced by the advent of new flowing 
wells ; and when some or many of them have ceased flow- 
ing, a number of new pumping wells have supplied their 
places, so that the supply has nearly kept pace with the 
demand. 

As to the depth to the rock and the dip of the strata 
in Oil creek there is quite a variety. The greatest depth 
of soil overlying the rock is on the flat or low ground, 
while the rock is but slightly covered, and even exposed, 
on the hillside, at the foot of the bluffs, and at the base 
of the hill opposite to a flat. This arrangement is almost 
invariable. On the " Blood farm," which is, perhaps, six 
miles above the mouth of the creek, the rocks are ex- 
posed to view at the base of the hill, which is also the 
water's edge, while on the opposite side of the creek, 
where there is a broad flat, the operators are obliged to 
dive pipe thirty-five feet before reaching the rock, show- 
ing evidently the indications of an upheaval of the rock 
at the base of and underneath the hills. 

And here, as elsewhere, the base of the hill generally 
produces the most successful wells, although this is not 
an invariable rule. Higher up the creek on the Story 
farm, the broad flat has, as yet, produced very little oil, 
while at the foot of the bluff there are many fine wells. 
On this farm the flat is called the " dry territory," and 
the foot of the hill the productive territory. There is a 
geological theory made good in this experience. The 
upheaval, of which we read on the very first page of the 
rocky volume, as it is turned up under the base of the 
hill, has broken, and shattered the rocks at the base, 



GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 189 

leaving the strata inclined at all angles, and, of course, 
full of cavities and even huge caverns, into which the 
oil, as a matter of course, collects from the smaller aper- 
tures, leaving the unbroken strata in the neighborhood 
with little or no resources upon which the operator may 
draw. The result is that wells that are sunk at the base 
of the cliff, are located immediately over this shattered, 
cavernous condition of the rock, and reaching some of the 
crevices or leaders that connect with the crevices below, 
yield luxuriantly ; whilst those sunk in the flat that has 
not been disturbed so much reach only insignificant 
veins, that abound only in water, and the pump not 
having sufficient influence to draw the oil from its distant 
bed, the well is a failure. 

On the Blood farm the nature and location of the 
strata will convey a good idea of the general geological 
features of the rock in the valley. Out on the flat there 
is thirty-five feet of superincumbent earth before reaching 
the rock. The first rock is quite hard and even siliceous 
for the distance of fifteen feet, where it changes to the 
ordinary shale. At the depth of two hundred feet the 
first sand rock is reached. This is from twelve to fifteen 
feet in thickness. The second shale is about one hun- 
dred feet in thickness. The second sand rock from 
fifteen to twenty feet thick. Third shale one hundred 
and fifty feet, and third sand rock about twenty feet. 
This is a register for a well bored through the third 
sand rock, and is something over five hundred feet in 
depth. It will be perceived that the upper stratum of 
shale is much the thickest. The first sand rock is not so 
uniform in thickness as is the second and third, nor is" it 
quite so thick. 

On this part of the creek a well is not considered fin- 



190 DEEPEST WELL — COMPARATIVE SUCCESS. 

ished until it has passed through the third sand rock, as 
the largest and best wells have been found in this 
stratum. Nor have many persons, thus far, gone below 
this, save to prepare a receptacle for the deposit of 
sand and sediment in the working of the well. Still a 
few have bored to the depth of from seven to nine 
hundred feet, with various results. 

The deepest well yet bored in the oil regions is on 
Watson's flats, two miles below Titus ville. This well 
has been bored to a depth of twelve hundred feet, and 
has not yet reached the third sand rock ; showing that 
there is a dip in the rock towards the north, indicating 
that there is on the creek an anti-clinal axis, that accounts 
for successes on the central portions of its territory, and 
failures above. 

As to the comparative success attending the boring of 
wells in the Oil Creek valley, the history so far would 
indicate that about one well in ten is a success. What 
is termed a successful well is one that can be worked 
with profit to its owners. No doubt, as stated in another 
place, many a well that is abandoned as worthless, might 
be made to yield by proper treatment in tubing and 
pumping, and many others might be rendered profitable 
by deeper boring ; but to take results as we find them, 
the proportion stated above will perhaps be found nearly 
correct. This leaves a large margin for the cultivation 
of faith and the exercise of hope, whilst engaged in the 
operations of boring and tubing. Yet there is this en- 
couraging feature connected with the business generally, 
that there is no greater proportion of failures now, that 
the valley is pierced like a colander, than there were at 
the beginning of oil operations. No doubt the great 
number of wells that are drilled through the rock will 



ELEVATED BORING SITES. 191 

have a tendency to lessen the number of flowing wells 
by gradually withdrawing the gas, but it yet remains to 
be seen whether it will relatively lessen the amount of 
oil yielded by the process of pumping. 

During the first year of the oil business, the choice 
locations were supposed to be near the water's edge, but 
generally, as lots were leased and lands occupied, new 
comers were forced back to the base of the hill. Experi- 
mental boring has proved equally' as satisfactory there 
as at the edge of the creek, and even more so. As 
land became scarce, derricks were seen planted on 
the steep edges of the bluff, quite a distance above the 
level of the creek, and still the rock was found prolific, 
the only inconveniences being the difficulty of bringing 
fuel to the engine, and finding a location for oil tanks 
and barrels. 

In the meantime little tributaries that flowed into Oil 
creek on either side, which had been neglected before, 
began to assume importance. Some of them were 
little dancing brooks that almost leaped down the cliff 
side, but the theory began to be entertained that pro- 
bably the strata of rock would rise with the acclivity of 
the bed of the stream, and oil be reached there as 
in the valley below. Practical results have shown that 
this theory is correct. 

Cherry run is a most important branch of Oil creek as 
regards the operations connected with it, although it is 
small and insignificant as a stream. It enters the creek 
on its eastern side near the town of Rouseville, and bids 
fair to become as famous in history as many another 
trifling little stream that has been associated with heroic 
deeds or important achievements. It is a small, impetu- 
ous brook that, near its mouth, leaves scarcely room at its 



192 CHERRY RUN. 

side sufficient for a wagon road. Following its banks for 
the distance of five miles we find the little town of 
Plumerville, on the road leading from Franklin to 
Warren. Here very extensive operations are carried on 
connected with refining and preparing oil for market. 

The valley of Cherry run widens and enlarges from 
Plumerville up, and is now a scene of bustle and excite- 
ment, as every portion of it from its mouth to a distance 
of ten or twelve miles is thickly bristled with derricks, 
and busy with the movements of the workmen. Nor is 
this mere speculation, or the result of excitement di- 
rected in this particular way. The successes that have 
attended experiments in this little valley are much 
greater so far, than those connected with the parent 
valley. For a time not a single failure occurred in 
boring on Cherry run, whether near to the current or 
up on the steep sides of the bluff that come near meet- 
ing on either side. Whether this uniform success was 
owing to the fact that the wells happened to strike the 
oil crevices in every case, or whether these crevices, * 
i with corresponding caverns, are more thickly located in 
this region cannot be told. Success in a given locality is 
the rule that governs its popularity, and the success of 
Cherry run territory thus far has established its reputa- 
tion among oil men. 

It is in this valley, some two miles from its mouth, 
that the famous Reed well is located, flowing some two 
hundred and fifty barrels per day. The proprietor of 
this well has had much experience in boring wells, and 
had learned " to labor and to wait." He had bored on 
French creek and on Allegheny river, but without 
success. His efforts seemed all to fail, and his hopes to 
meet with disappointment. Finally he resolved to try 



CHERRY TREE RUN. 193 

Cherry run, and found fortune propitious. A prime 
vein was pierced, a flowing well was the result, and he 
can now repose on his laurels. Other flowing wells are 
in the same neighborhood, and pumping wells that yield 
bountifully are strewn thickly around. 

A grand and magnificent view may be obtained by 
ascending to the top of the bluff in the neighborhood of 
the mouth of Cherry run. Not less than one hundred 
and fifty engines may be seen at a glance, all in active 
operation, with their columns of steam and smoke, run- 
ning in every direction. The profusion of derricks is 
absolutely bewildering, resembling, more than anything 
else, a new town in process of building, with the simple 
frames of houses awaiting the roofing and weather- 
boarding. In connection with this the creek is seen 
filled with boats, and if a view of the river is obtained, it 
is seen swarming with, flat-boats and steamers. It is a 
busy scene, full of active life, and full of wondrous 
promise. 

Eouseville is an active little village. Much business 
is transacted here in the way of selling and leasing 
lands. It was near this place that the celebrated "Burn- 
ing well" was located, in whose fearful conflagration H. 
E. Rouse lost his life. The place takes its name from 
Mr. Eouse. 

The next stream that enters Oil creek is Cherry Tree 
run, coming from the northeast, and joining the creek at 
the lower end of the Eynd farm. This run is divided 
into several branches; the first is Weikel run, and the 
next in importance Noell's run. Although no important 
developments have yet been made in these valleys 
there is nothing improbable in the idea that they will 
17 



194 TITUSVILLE. 

prove as productive and valuable as the other tributaries 
of Oil creek. 

There are some other runs of minor importance, such 
as Corn Planter's run, Bennehoofs run, Fox run : these 
will ere long be heard from in the way of producing oil, 
that will bring them into notoriety, as the demand for 
territory is unceasing, and operations extending wherever 
there is the least prospect of securing oil. 

Above Titusville, which is in Crawford county, nu- 
merous derricks indicate the intention of exploring 
thoroughly the whole region of the creek. There seems 
to be no reason why such explorations should not suc- 
ceed, unless the geological structure of the rocks should 
be different from that of the region below. This would 
seem to be the ease from the fact mentioned as to the 
trend of the rocks two miles below Titusville. Still as 
the face of the rock is frequently undulating, valuable 
territory may be opened up at no great distance above. 

Titusville, like many other places in the oil valleys, 
has become decidedly famous for the last few years. It 
is situated in Crawford county, but as its influence and 
importance grew out of the oil wells, it is properly men- 
tioned in connection with the history of Venango 
county. It is an old town; but, like Franklin, has 
taken a new lease of life, and is becoming rejuvenated 
once more. It is on Oil creek, and at a point very 
favorable to trade and business, being connected with 
the Atlantic and Great "Western and the Erie and Phila- 
delphia railroads by the Oil Creek railroad. The situa- 
tion is good, and the streets laid out regularly. It has 
much beauty connected with its location and surround- 
ings, and bids fair to become a place of great import- 
ance. From this point the railroad extends down 



BANKING — OIL CITY. 195 

Oil creek to the Shaffer farm, and it is in contemplation 
to extend it to Oil City. In this way a much larger 
amount of trade will be secured, inasmuch as the pre- 
sent way of conveying oil to Titusville is both difficult 
and expensive. 

Titusville, from a small village, has now assumed the 
proportions of a large town, increasing within a few 
years from a few hundred to a population of six or 
seven thousand. It has four churches, some of them 
of very fine architectural beauty and proportion, with 
an amount of taste that does great credit to the place. 
It has also two banks of issue and deposit, with a large 
number of hotels. 

The banking interest in the oil region is one of im- 
mense importance. Besides those mentioned above, Oil 
City has two banks of issue and a third of deposit, whilst 
Franklin has the same number, making in all six banks 
of issue and two or three of deposit or exchange. All 
these have grown naturally and legitimately out of the 
oil business of Venango county, and are safe and highly 
prosperous institutions. This business has been largely 
indebted to the enterprise and foresight of Hon. C. V, 
Culver, who has been connected with it from the be- 
ginning of the prosperity of the oil region. 

Oil City is an active, energetic place, full of hope and 
promise for the future. The site is not pleasant nor fa- 
vorable to expansion, yet to lovers of the beautiful it is 
very picturesque. The principal part of the city lies 
along the base of a steep, precipitous hill, that would, in 
many places, be dignified with the name of mountain; 
on the other hand is the Allegheny river. There is at 
the lower end of the place room but for a single street ; 
at the upper end, and across Oil creek, the valley widens 



196 LATONIA.. 

out some what, particularly up Oil creek. The lower 
portions are mainly occupied for business purposes, and 
the level land does not suffice for this, but business is 
pushing its way into the hillside. On the northern side 
of the creek there is a beautiful section of the city, called 
Cottage Hill. This section is located on the steep hill- 
side, out of the way of fire and the terrible atmosphere 
that arises from the oil boats and wells, but particularly 
from the refineries that are in the neighborhood. From 
this point there is a fine view of the river, the town and 
creek, that extends to a considerable distance in every 
direction. 

Oil City has already several churches organized, with 
church edifices, either erected or in progress of erection, 
and everything betokens prosperity, enlargement and 
wealth. There are two banks of issue and one of de- 
posit, whose business would utterly confound the officers 
of many of the old city banks. The lower portion of the 
city is literally covered with oil derricks, encroaching 
even on building lots and dwelling houses. Some of 
them are in operation and yielding oil, others are just 
commencing operations. These wells, however profitable 
to the owners, will render the town rather liable to acci- 
dents from fire. 

Across the river, and just opposite the mouth of Oil 
creek, is situated the new city of Venango. This, too, 
bids fair to become a young giant in the race for pros- 
perity and growth. One year ago it was a farm, with a 
single dwelling house. Now buildings are multiplying 
rapidly. There lacks but one thing to insure the pros- 
perity of Venango, and that is a bridge across the river. 
With this, the greater portion of the new population 
would select that place as their residence, whilst trans- 



196 LATOVT ■ 



J 




GKOWING POPULATION — VALUE OF LANDS. 197 

acting business at Oil City. The founder of this new 
town was William L. Lay. 

The population of Oil City was at first floating and 
transient ; latterly it is becoming more fixed and per- 
manent. It has, probably, at the present time, from six to 
eight thousand. The other towns on Oil creek, as Tarr 
Farm, Petroleum Centre, and McClintockville, are all 
flourishing. In fact, it is almost impossible to tell where 
one ends and the other commences, so thickly strewn 
is this entire valley with a dense, active population. 

The lands along the creek, between the same points, are 
estimated at a bona fide cash value of two hundred and 
fifty millions of dollars. Many portions of these lands 
have been sold at prices that would bring the whole at 
the same rate to this sum in the aggregate. The distance 
is but little over fifteen miles, and the valley narrow 
throughout its entire extent, so that an idea can be readily 
formed of the immense wealth contained in its bosom. 

As yet the most extensive oil companies are found in 
operation in the Oil Creek valley, and much of the pros- 
perity of the business is due to the efficiency and enter- 
prise with which they have been managed. Among these 
are enumerated the " United Petroleum Farms Associa- 
tion," on the Graff- Hasson farm, near Oil City; the 
" Blood Farm Petroleum Company,' 1 on the Blood farm ; 
the " Home Petroleum Company," also on the Blood farm, 
on the east side of Oil creek ; the " Tarr Farm Petrole- 
um Company," and the " Central Petroleum Company, 
of New York," on the Washington McClintock farm, with 
many others that are carried on with great efficiency and 
suecess. 

As the names of Eveleth, and Bissell, and Drake are 
mentioned in connection with the history of the earlier 
17* 



198 INDIAN TRADITION. 

developments of the oil business, so there are other names 
that belong to the history of the later development and 
successful prosecution of the trade, that must ever be as- 
sociated with enterprise, and judgment, and perseverance. 
Among these are Brewer & Watson, formerly of Titus- 
ville, the .brothers Egbert, Halderman, Shrieve, Brough 
& Tilson, Mitchell & Brown, Prentice, Clark & Seely, 
Coleman & Ewing, with many others, whose influence 
has contributed largely towards making the business 
what it is — the wonder, and pride, and glory of the whole 
land. The history of Oil creek would not be complete 
without these names. 

There is a beautiful Indian tradition in connection with 
the early history of Oil creek that has a bearing upon the 
subject in hand. Cornplanter had lands here, and the 
valley was a place of frequent resort by the Indians, on 
account of its healing oil. 

The tradition is, that many moons ago — long before the 
recollection of the most aged chieftains of their tribes — 
one of their bravest chiefs was afflicted with a painful 
disease, that was rapidly preparing him for the happy 
hunting grounds of the spirit land. For the good of the 
tribe he longed to live, and fasted and prayed to the 
Great Spirit to spare him until his tribe should be de- 
livered from their difficulties. The neighboring tribes 
were on the war path, and he feared that his people 
would fall before them, and be scattered like the sere 
leaves of the forest. 

The Great Spirit was propitious, and answered him 
kindly — 

" Spake to him with voice majestic, 
As the sound of far-off waters 
Falling into deep abysses," 



THE FOUNTAIN STILL FLOWING. 199 

telling him that in the valley that should be pointed . 
out to him he would find a great medicine, bubbling up 
through the ground and mingling with the waters, that 
should heal him of his maladies, and give him strength 
to smite his enemies and overcome them. The voice of 
the Great Spirit, moreover, assured him that this medi- 
cine fountain would continue to yield its supply until 
his tribe should cease following the wilderness and the 
war path, and be all gathered into the happy hunting- 
grounds of their fathers; and that it should then be 
given to a tribe of strangers, with pale faces, who should 
come over the big waters, and be by them desecrated to 
common and base uses. 

The chieftain rose from the ground, and, although 
faint with fasting and weakened by disease, set out in 
quest of the medicine spring. The sun was setting, and 
the curtains of darkness were gathering around, but there 
was a light that glowed in the red chieftain's heart. 
From his lake-side home he turned his back upon the 
North star, and, faint and weary, he at last reached the 
place pointed out by the Great Spirit, just as the sun was 
rising in the east. The medicine was bubbling up with 
the water, the chief recognizes the gift, and finds healing 
and life in its power. The fountain has continued to 
yield its supply. It is still the gift of the Great Spirit, 
and its supplies should be received with gratitude. 



200 NATURAL FEATURES. 



CHAPTER XV. 

ALLEGHENY RIVER TERRITORY. 

The region along the Allegheny has not been in course 
of development as long as Oil creek, nor has it been de- 
veloped with such persistent effort and energy, yet it has 
so far more than realized the expectations that were in- 
dulged concerning it. The Allegheny is a beautifnl 
stream, well meriting the name the French bestowed 
upon it — La belle riviere. It is remarkable for the 
boldness and richness of the scenery found along its 
banks, and for the endless variety that characterizes 
its conformation. The current is winding, running in 
almost every direction, now sweeping by the base of the 
bluff on its. eastern bank, leaving a little valley on the 
western, and now changing to the western side and wash- 
ing the feet of the cliff in its clear cold waters. The hills 
are high and precipitous on either side, and, withal, the 
rock is very seldom seen cropping out from their sides. 
Here and there a gorge opens out between the hills, 
through which a creek or run finds its way into the river. 
Sometimes these gulches are dry, and show very little 
indication of having recently contained water. Often- 
times they appear to have been formed by some internal 
eruption, or convulsion of nature, as the sides are rug- 
ged and broken; they are to deep, too, to be the .result 



TWO-MILE RUN — HORSE CREEK. 201 

of erosion. "What is called the " Dry Hollow," some few 
miles above Franklin, is. of this character. In driving a 
pipe, preparatory to boring a well, in this hollow, it was 
found to be over an hundred feet to the rock, as though 
there had been a mighty chasm opened between the hills. 
Whether this will prove a favorable site for oil wells re- 
mains to be seen. 

The upper Allegheny, or that portion above Franklin, 
will first be noticed. A considerable number of wells 
are found on either bank, between Franklin and Oil City, 
all of which are worked by means of pumps. There are 
at present some fifteen wells now in active operation, 
averaging, probably, five barrels per day. 

The " Two-mile run," so called from its distance above 
Franklin, was at one time considered a favorable locality 
for oil, and some three years since produced a considera- 
ble amount, but latterly little has been done in that 
vicinity. It has not yet recovered from the ruin and 
discouragement visited upon small wells by the flowing 
well excitement. It will yet, no doubt, be valuable. 

Passing by Oil creek, in this place, we find Horse 
creek, a considerable stream flowing in upon the eastern 
side of the river, about ten miles from Franklin and three 
above Oil City. In this region the indications have 
been favorable, and signs propitious for many years. A 
Philadelphia company is operating here with favorable 
indications of success. The valleys formed by the river 
and creek at this point afford a large amount of bottom 
land that is favorable to the operation of boring. 
t/ Six miles further up, we come to " Pit Hole creek," 
now become famous for its new developments, as well as 
new features in the oil business. This is a rocky precipi- 
tous stream, dashing down amid the hills over loose, 



202 PIT HOLE CREEK. 

broken rocks, and has a fall per mile greater than any 
other stream in the oil valleys. It derives its name from 
a peculiar conformation of the country. The stream 
seems to gush from an immense pit in the rocks. There 
are several of these pits in the neighborhood that seem 
to indicate a structure of rock different from that known 
in the neighboring valleys. An old story is related of a 
hunter in the olden time, who had shot a wild turkey, 
and, wishing to go further and not carry his game with 
him, suspended it in one of these pits by a string. On 
his return later in the day, he found his game tainted 
and worthless. Others speak of villainous odors arising 
from these pits. The conclusion is, that they lead to 
broken cavities deep in the rock, and that gasses are 
escaping from below. 

Be this as it may, Pit Hole has become a popular 
resort for oil men, and considered of the greatest promise 
for future developments. The best well on this stream 
is about six miles from its mouth, and has perhaps 
attracted more attention than any other well that has 
been opened during the last three years. While the 
well itself is not very deep, being but six hundred and 
six feet, it is located upon quite high ground and has 
passed through the strata that is usually found on the 
river-flat. It has even pierced the fourth sand rock 
that has never been reached on Oil creek. The region 
has not been leveled to ascertain the exact height ; but 
this well cannot be less than four hundred feet above 
the level of the Allegheny, six miles distant. Here 
then is the sand rock upheaved to a level with the sur- 
face within comparatively a short distance. Might it 
not be supposed that underneath this region there would 
be a condition of the underlying strata peculiarly favor- 




I 4 
I 



WONDROUS DEVELOPMENTS. 203 

able to the secretion of oil? If this upheaval was by 
volcanic action, it might very reasonably be concluded 
that the rock beneath would be contorted, and broken, 
and left full of extensive cavities, and, being in the oil 
region, these cavities would almost necessarily be filled 
with oil. 

This Pit Hole well flows spontaneously at the rate of 
one hundred barrels per day, and this under great dis- 
advantages, as the sucker rods are yet in the chamber. 

A wondrous development is taking place in the re- 
sources of this region. It appears to be outstripping 
Oil creek itself, both in the success of the oil operations, 
and the growth of its population. The first well opened 
was the- "United States," in the spring of the present 
year — 1865. This at once attracted the attention of oil 
men, when the tide of speculation commenced, and has 
continued with unflagging energy to the present time. 
There are now ten flowing wells, yielding from two 
hundred to eight hundred barrels each per day, on Pit 
Hole creek ; with this encouraging feature, that so far 
there has been no evidence of decrease in the yield. 
Towns have sprung up as though by magic. Pit Hole 
creek has, in less than two months, attained a population 
of from five to seven thousand. The houses built in the 
same period of time number about five hundred. The 
place has already two banks, numerous hotels, theatre, 
and arrangements for religious service. Two railroads 
are in process of construction to the neighborhood of 
Pit Hole. One extending from Oil City up the western 
bank of the Allegheny to the mouth of Pit Hole creek, 
to which it is proposed bringing the oil by means of 
pipes ; the other extends from Eeno, accross Oil creek, to 
Cherry run, thence up Cherry run to Plumer. Both 



204 REGISTER OF STRATA. 

these roads connect with the Atlantic and Great Western 
Eailroad. 

There are a number of fine wells near the mouth of 
Pit Hole creek and above, along the Henry and McCrea 
farms. These wells are from three to six hundred feet 
deep. Some of them have flowed, and are now pumping 
from. five to twenty barrels per day. 

As an indication of the strata, the following register 
is given of a well bored on the Culbertson farm : — 

To the rock 33 feet. 

Thickness of first shale 127 " 

" " sand rock 25 M 

" second shale 60 " 

" " sand rock 40 '■ 

" third shale 22 " 

" " sand rock 28 " 

" fourth shale 215 " 

" in fourth sand rock 50 " 

Total 600 " 

In the second rock there was a rose tint, approaching 
a flesh color, that has frequently been perceptible in 
these deep sand rocks. One of the wells on the Hussey 
& McBride farm flowed from two to two hundred and 
fifty barrels per day for two months ; it was then closed 
up as there was little demand for oil. It has since been 
pumped with an increase of yield; it now produces some 
fifteen barrels daily. 

A little farther up, Hemlock creek empties upon the 
eastern side of the river. This region is sometimes 
known as President, that being the name of the township 
and post-office. This creek, in connection with the river, 
presents a large extent of flat lands for the consideration 



HEMLOCK — TIOXESTA. 205 

of parties that prefer low lands and proximity to water 
courses as locations for wells. These lands are now in 
process of being tested, and the successes that have 
attended operations below would indicate that Hemlock 
and President will not be lacking when vigorous opera- 
tions shall have explored their territory. 

As we approach the Tionesta, which is thirty miles 
above Franklin, numerous islands dot the river, some of 
them of considerable extent, that are sought after as oil 
territory. Formerly islands were in better repute than 
at present. It was supposed that the water courses indi- 
cated the course of the oil currents, and that under the 
bed of the river was the best possible location. Theory 
and observation both seem to agree latterly that this is 
not the case; that there are no oil currents; that oil 
wherever it may be found is sluggish ; and that it may 
be found underneath the high lands as well as on the 
water-courses. Still these viands are eagerly sought 
after, and in many cases prove very productive. 

Tionesta is a beautiful town on the eastern bank of 
the river, and was, at one time, the centre of a very 
thriving lumber trade. Of late this has somewhat 
fallen off in importance, as the people have been giving 
their attention to other pursuits. Little Tionesta empties 
below the town, while Tionesta proper enters the river 
at. the town, and, with its tributaries Coon creek, Ross 
and Salmon runs, affords a large extent of available land 
for experiment and development. These operations are 
meeting with success, too, in proportion as they are pro- 
secuted with vigor and perseverance. 

Four miles above Tionesta we come to AVest and 
Little Hickory creeks, one upon each side of the river, 
and three miles farther up East Hickory. Operations 
18 



206 SUCCESS ON LOWER ALLEGHENY. 

were commenced on these streams early in the history 
of the oil business ; but were interrupted by the flowing 
wells on Oil creek, together with the circumstances of 
the war; still there are some wells in operation, and pre- 
parations for great and enlarged operations are in pro- 
gress by stock companies. The geological features of 
this region have a great resemblance to those of Oil 
creek, and future operations may be attended by like 
success. 

A short distance above this is Tideoute, once the 
scene of extensive and exciting oil operations, bidding 
fair to rival Oil creek ; of late there has not been so much 
done, as circumstances have interrupted operations to a 
considerable degree. This place is in Warren county. 

We return now to the lower Allegheny, or that por- 
tion of the river below Franklin. There is here a large 
extent of valuable land for oil purposes, and, so far as 
matters have progressed, operations have been attended 
with the most gratifying success. Just below Franklin 
there are quite a number of successful wells, or those 
yielding oil. The comparative success attending opera- 
tions on this portion of the Allegheny is greater than in 
any other portion of the oil region. On an average 
more than half the wells bored have proved successful. 
In a distance of two miles below the borough line of 
Franklin, there are at present, on the western bank of 
the river, thirty wells bored; of these, eighteen yield oil 
in remunerating quantities, and six, or one-third, are or 
have been flowing wells. The aggregate is now about 
one hundred and fifty barrels daily, having a gravity of 
from 34° to 37°, Baume. In this region the depth of 
the wells is about four hundred and fifty feet, and the 
oil is found in the second sand rock. The variation in 



WELLS COMPARATIVELY SHALLOW. 207 

depth and in strata is so small as to be unworthy of 
note. 

For the same distance, on the eastern side of the river, 
the number of wells is about forty-two. The ratio and 
amount of productiveness is probably about the same as 
that on the western shore. A fine well -opposite Frank- 
lin is now yielding some fifty or sixty barrels daily. 

It- will be observed here that all the wells as compared 
with those of the upper Allegheny, and particularly 
those of Oil creek, are shallow, not having advanced 
below the second sand-rock. When operations are car- 
ried farther below, to the third and fourth sand rocks, 
new and better developments may be expected. It was 
on this part of the river that the first well below Frank- 
lin was opened, known as the Hoover well. The depth 
was three hundred feet, and produced, by pumping, forty 
barrels daily, for perhaps two years, when the proprie- 
tors thinking to improve it by boring deeper, got the 
boring implements fast beyond remedy, and the well has 
been a sealed fountain ever since. 

Five miles below Franklin upon the eastern bank is 
East Sandy creek. Good success has attended operations 
here. A flowing well, yielding one hundred and fifty 
barrels per day, has given an impetus to operations that 
will go far towards bringing to light the hidden re- 
sources of this region. 

Four miles farther down is Big Sandy creek, a noble 
stream that branches into numerous divisions. Its 
principal branches are Little Sandy and South Sandy. 
Upon this stream is AYa,terloo, about five miles from 
Franklin. Frowning hills, whose sides are covered with 
boulders, overlook this stream. Many portions of the 
hills present a broken and shattered appearance as 



208 ISLANDS NOT DESIRABLE. 

though by some vast force they had been rent asunder 
to afford a channel for the creek. If these appearances 
indicate anything, this region should be a favorite place 
of resort for oil men. This has been the case, and the 
banks on both sides of the stream have been purchased 
for many miles from the river. 

There are some islands in this part of the river, that 
have been explored with great success. There is one 
practical inconvenience connected with boring on islands; 
it is difficult to get supplies of coal to the wells, and 
often impossible to ship the oil when produced. In 
addition to this, they are subject to inundation at 
times of great freshets. Some of these floods are ter- 
rible in their power and devastation, particularly at the 
breaking up of the ice in the spring, bearing all before 
them, and sweeping away every thing that comes within 
the sphere of their influence. Still island lands are 
sought after with great eagerness, and purchased at 
extraordinary prices, with a disposition to risk all acci- 
dents from the spring flood, and to endure all inconveni- 
ences from the low water of summer. 

More attention has been attracted to the lower Alle- 
gheny at the present time than ever before. Large 
amounts of lands have been purchased, and extensive 
companies, with capital sufficient to explore thoroughly, 
have already commenced operations, and ere long mag- 
nificent results may follow. It is an interesting fact, too, 
that with all the success that has attended operations 
here, not one well has yet reached the stratum that yields 
oil the most liberally on Oil creek. From the dip of the 
strata, this would be in this region from one thousand to 
twelve hundred feet. When some bold operator has the 
courage to disregard surface shows, and faith to push his 



GREAT PROMISE. 209 

way downwards, it may be that a nearer approach to the 
oil caverns will result in a more copious supply than has 
yet been realized. 

From the general direction of the streams along which 
oil has thus far been chiefly found, the opinion has been 
entertained that some immense deposit has been accumu- 
lated at the point where all these stores converge. The 
general direction of the river above and below, of East 
Sandy, French creek, Sugar creek, Two-mile run, Oil 
creek, Tionesta, and the Hickories, would cause them all 
to converge at a point not far from Franklin, and in that 
locality we might look for the great oil basin. The indi- 
cations are, certainly, that this is becoming more and more 
the central point of the producing region, as new devel- 
opments down the river and up French creek are en- 
larging the area ; but there is little or no reason to sup- 
pose that the oil is found tending in any direction. It 
seems evidently sluggish, and confined to particular cavi- 
ties, throwing out veins and crevices in various direc- 
tions, which veins are generally filled with water. Still 
there may be some vast receptacle or lake of oil some- 
where in the oil region, connected with other lakes of 
smaller dimensions, and these connected with small cav- 
erns or ponds, and the whole connected by a series of 
veins ramifying in endless profusion throughout all this 
region. 

' The region along the Allegheny is not without its tra- 
ditions. Some of the aged people here remember an old 
Moncey chief named Ross. The old brave always as- 
serted that there were silver mines along the Allegheny, 
At one time he proposed pointing out one of these mines 
to an old citizen, then of Franklin. It was said to be 
situated in a ravine between Franklin and Oil City. After 
18* 



210 USES NOT DEVELOPED. 

leading the white man up this ravine, where umbrageous 
trees and moss-covered rocks made a gloomy and fearful 
shade, they came to a second ravine, cutting the first upon 
the right, where ragged rocks and irregular banks sug- 
gested the work of an earthquake, and passing up the 
second for a short distance the chief suddenly paused, 
and with solemn emphasis said: "I dare not go farther. 
The mine is within five rods of you ; find it for yourself." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

USES OF PETROLEUM. 



Hebe a large field opens before us. It has not yet 
been fully explored. This branch of the subject is yet in 
its infancy. The great miracle of the nineteenth century, 
although grasped practically in many of its details, has 
not yet been submitted to that nicety of treatment and 
delicacy of manipulation that will bring its hidden uses 
to full view, and render every portion of it an element 
of value, tending to the use, and comfort, and mental ele- 
vation of mankind. It is now made to pass through the 
fire, and many useful and beautiful products have been 
the result ; yet much of that which is, no doubt, valua- 
ble, goes to comparative waste, and is reckoned as loss. 
Hereafter, in the chemical laboratory, under the treat- 
ment of an eager and inquisitive science, it will, no doubt, 
yield rich and beautiful results, that will convey to the 
world still stronger evidences of the goodness of the great 
Benefactor in the gift of this wondrous wealth. 



AS AN ILLUMINATOR. 211 

It has long been used in its natural state for many use- 
ful purposes, but not until recently has it been made to 
pass through a course of treatment to adapt it to a variety 
of useful purposes. This course of treatment has not yet 
attained to perfection. In the refinery for illuminating 
purposes, in its treatment for lubricating purposes, and, 
above all, in the laboratory treatment for the extraction 
of its finer and more delicate properties, it is, as yet, al- 
most a terra incognita. 

As an illuminator it stands pre-eminent in the form of 
refined oil for the lamp. The days of tallow candles 
have passed away forever. Their reign has been termi- 
nated, and a better dispensation has taken their place. 
Long years ago the early settlers used it in a crude state, 
in, rude lamps, but it was not a satisfactory agent. The 
openness of the early log cabins were rather favorable to 
its use, inasmuch as the smoke and vapor that accompa- 
nied its use could readily pass off; but it was never used 
save in cases where no other light could be obtained. 

Even after the refining and deodorizing process had 
been resorted to, the imperfection of the lamps then in 
use rendered the refined oil a very imperfect article for 
giving light. It was then used in lamps furnished with 
cylindrical tubes, about an inch and a half in length, 
and without chimneys. The light was but feeble, and 
liable to be extinguished with even a slight breath of air, 
and the lamp could not be carried from place to place. 
Of necessity, the oil was then expensive, as it was found 
only in certain localities and in limited quantities, and, 
under these circumstances, it soon went out of use. 

When the discovery of the distillation of oil from cannel 
coal brought this fluid into use, improvements were made 
in lamps so that it could be used not only with economy, 



212 



IMPROVEMENT IN LAMPS. 



but with pleasure ; and when the large wells of petro- 
leum were opened up, the improved lamps brought it into 
immediate use. After distillation and deodorizing, by 
processes discussed in a future chapter, it stands chief, in 
many respects, amongst the illuminating substances. Its 
use is characterized by a clear, strong and steady flame, 
that is most agreeable to the eye, and so different from 
the staring, flickering light afforded by a jet of gas. 

As an illuminator it is used with perfect safety, where 
even ordinary care is exercised. It is important, how- 
ever, that care and precaution should be used both by 
the refiner and the consumer. If the benzine is not well 
removed it is an explosive mixture, and cannot be used 
with safety. And, on the part of the consumer, ordinary 
care should be used to guard against accidents. The 
safety or danger of the oil may be tested by pouring a 
small portion in a spoon and applying a match. If it 
takes fire readily it betrays the presence of benzine, and 
is unsafe ; if it will not ignite, it may be considered safe; 
but lamps should not be filled near the fire, nor when al- 
ready lighted. 

Neither the illuminating qualities, nor the economy of 
the light produced by petroleum, have as yet been pro- 
perly appreciated. By way of contrast with other illu- 
minating substances, a table, prepared by Professor J. B. 
Wethee, of Ohio, is here presented : 



Articles Used. 


Intensity of 
light. 


Quantity of Light 
from an equal 
measure of oil. 


Cost of an equal 
quantity of light 


Coal Oil Petroleum... 
Camphene 


13.70 
5.00 
2.40 
1.50 
2.00 
75 


2.60 
1.30 
85 
74 
95 
30 


4.00 
4.95 


Whale Oil 


12.00 


Lard Oil : 


17.00 


Sperm Oil 


26.40 


Burning Fluid 


20.34 



AS A LUBRICATOR. 213 

From this table it will be seen that refined petroleum 
is superior to all other oils and burning fluids, both in 
intensity of light and in cheapness of supply. It is rapid- 
ly finding its way into foreign countries, and interfering 
sadly with the olive orchards of Italy and other portions 
of southern Europe, as it will, ultimately, with those of 
Asia. It would seem that through its influence one of 
the most ancient and even sacred productions of the East 
is to fall into desuetude, and the vineyard and the olive 
yard cease to be enumerated together, in speaking of a 
fertile and prosperous land. The olive seems to be des- 
tined to pass away, with all its sacred and hallowed asso- 
ciations, in the East, just as the time-honored tallow can- 
dle, with its associations of home, and fireside, and family 
circle, has already passed away from our midst, to come 
not back again. 

As a lubricator, in various forms, petroleum stands 
pre-eminent. Sometimes it is used in its crude state, 
and sometimes with certain preparation, that is discussed 
in a succeeding chapter. It is found adapted alike to 
the roughest and heaviest machinery, and to the smallest 
and finest, and is, at the same time, most economical and 
easily applied. In combination with other substances it 
can be made to retain its place, where other oils soon 
wear out. . 

As a medical agent it has long held a prominent place 
in the estimation of the world. It is quoted in the 
oldest Hindoo medical authorities as occupying a promi- 
nent place in the estimation of the medical faculty of 
that day, and was well known from that day to this, as it 
is still obtained largely in the Hindoo country. It was 
well known to the Indians when this Continent was dis- 



214 AS A MEDICAL AGENT. 

covered by Europeans. Its use is alluded to in many 
of the earlier histories of this country. 

As to the estimate placed upon it at a very early day, 
it is interesting to quote from an article published in the 
"United States Magazine," for July, 1792. " In the 
northern parts of Pennsylvania there is a creek called 
Oil creek, which empties itself into the Allegheny 
river, issuing from a spring, on the top of which floats 
" an oil similar to what is called Barbadoes Tar, and from 
which may be collected by one man several gallons in a 
day. The American troops in marching that way halted 
at the spring, collected the oil, and bathed their joints 
with it. This gave them great relief, and freed them 
from the rheumatic complaints with which many of them 
were afflicted. The troops drank freely of the waters ; 
they operated as a gentle purge." 

We have another ancient authority, that if not parti- 
cularly valuable is curious and rare. The quotation is 
from an old work published in London nearly a century 
ago. Its title in part is: — "History of the Missions of 
the United Brethren among the Indians of North America. 
In Three Parts. By Henry George Laskiel. Printed 
for the British Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel. 
1794." 

"One of the most favorite medicines used by the 
Indians is the Fossil Oil (Petroleum) exuding from the 
earth, commonly with water. It is said that an Indian 
in the small pox laid down in a morass to cool himself, 
and soon recovered. This led to the discovery of an oil 
spring in the morass, and since that time many others 
have been found in the country of the Delawares and 
Iroquois. They are observed both in the running and 
standing water. In the latter the oil swims on the sur- 



FOR EXTERNAL COMPLAINTS. 215 

face, and is easily skimmed off; but in rivers it is car- 
ried away by the stream. Two have been discovered by 
the Missourians in the river Ohio. 

" This oil is of a brown color, and smells something 
like tar. When the Indians collect it from standing 
water, they first throw away that which floats on the top, 
as it smells stronger than that below it. Then they 
agitate the water violently with a stick, the quantity 
of the oil increases with the motion of the water, and, 
after it is settled again, the oil is skimmed off into ket- 
tles, and completely separated from the water by boiling. 
- They use it chiefly in external complaints, especially in 
the headache, toothache, swellings, rheumatism, disloca- 
tions, &c, rubbing the part affected with it. Some take 
it inwardly, and it has not been found to do harm. It 
will burn in a lamp. The Indians sometimes sell it to 
the white people at four guineas a quart." 

Allusion has already been made to its use by the 
early white settlers in this region. Oftentimes far from 
regular medical advice and assistance they learned to 
treat themselves for all minor complaints and difficulties, 
and often with great success. For external injuries, 
such as cuts, bruises, and dislocations, they found it an 
almost sovereign remedy, and thought they could send 
their friends in the East no more acceptable present 
than a bottle of Seneca Oil for medicinal purposes. 

In very many instances it has proved valuable as a 
disinfectant. An instance is recorded where an epidemic 
that w r as raging in a town in Italy was stayed and ulti- 
mately driven aw r ay by a liberal use of it on the streets 
and hospitals. There is no doubt but that advantages 
would arise from a free use of it in the hospitals of our 
own country, ministering to the comfort of patients and 



216 ASTHMA — CONSUMPTION. 

nurses, if not neutralizing the noxious odors that 
abound. 

"When incorporated with soap, it is said to act benefi- 
cially upon the person in various cases of cutaneous affec- 
tions. Petroleum soap has already found its way into 
market, and although as yet used medicinally, will, no 
doubt, come into use as an important article of luxury in 
toilet arrangements, adding to present comfort, and pre- 
venting cutaneous affections that would be otherwise 
unavoidable. 

The vapor of petroleum has been used to much advan- 
tage in cases of weak and diseased lungs, as well as in 
asthma. It is taken by inhalation. R)r the same class 
of diseases it has been taken internally in some cases 
with quite marked success. But this matter is left to 
the disposition of the medical faculty, who will, no doubt, 
give to it all due attention. 

The effect of petroleum upon operatives, and others 
brought in constant contact with it, is certainly not 
deleterious. There is no evidence that it acts in any case 
in a manner unfavorable to health ; but, on the contrary, 
there is evidence that it operates beneficially in pro- 
moting strength, and increasing the flesh of those who 
are in the constant habit of handling it. There is one 
curious fact that has been observed in relation to work- 
men engaged at the well, and that is, that their hair and 
beards soon become luxuriant, dark colored, and assume 
every appearance of vigorous health and growth. 

The testimony of an assistant-surgeon from the bloody 
field of Gettysburg, will be here in place, as to the effects 
of petroleum in the medication of wounds : — " What 
water is to a wound in an inflamed state, petroleum is to 
a wound in a suppurating state. It dispels flies, expels 



AS FUEL. 217 

vermin, sweetens the wound, and promotes a healthy 
granulation. Having dressed the wounds of two patients 
with it, I found they had sunk to sleep before I had 
finished the dressing of the third." 

Dr. Ducaisne, a physician of Antwerp, has given his 
opinion in regard to the medical properties of this sub- 
stance, in stating that by fumigating the apparel of per- 
sons exposed to epidemic disease with the gas arising 
from it, it will afford protection from attack ; also, that 
it may be applied successfully to those cutaneous diseases 
that are engendered by the presence of parasitical ani- 
malcules. 

As an article of fuel, petroleum is no doubt destined 
to ocnnpy an important place. Sufficient time has not 
yet elapsed since its production in large quantities to 
carry any important experiments to final success; but 
the very nature of the material would suggest that it 
might be profitably used where economy of bulk and 
weight w T as particularly desirable, as on board steam- 
ships. It is simply concentrated fuel. And if any 
apparatus can be invented in which concentrated fuel 
can be used safely and profitably the problem will be 
solved. The grand difficulty attending ocean steam 
navigation now is that the coal necessary to complete the 
voyage is nearly sufficient to freight the ship without 
anything further. 

Now petroleum can be safely used. By a very simple 
process, keeping it for a time up to 212° Fahrenheit, by 
the admission of steam pipes to the tank it can be 
deprived of the greater part of its explosive matter, and 
rendered practically safe. Even the 29° oil of French 
creek will not take fire when a lighted match is applied. 
As to the apparatus to be used, anything that would dis- 
19 



218 MANUFACTURE OF GAS. 

perse it, and bring it regularly and gradually to the fire 
surface would be all that would be required. 

Some experiments bave already been made by the 
United States Navy as to the practicability of bringing 
it into use in our own ships of war ; but no report has 
yet been made public in regard to the matter. The 
matter has also been discussed in England. A paper 
was recently read there on the use of mineral oils as fuel 
for steamships, in which it was asserted that twenty 
gallons of oil were equal to one ton of coal, and that the 
heating power of the oil was to the coal as four or four 
and a half to one. This is a low estimate in favor of the 
coal, as one ton of cannel coal will produce forty gallons 
of oil; but if we assume forty gallons of oil, or one 
b- • rel, as the equivalent of one ton of coal, we will see 
the vast advantage the oil has over coal both in economy 
of weight and space. A barrel of oil weighs probably 
three hundred pounds against twenty hundred of coal, 
or nearly one-seventh, and as to bulk the proportion is 
nearly as great. 

If proper machinery can be produced for its use there 
is no reason why a ship might not carry sufficient fuel to 
make the tour of the world ; or for ordinary voyages, the 
space now occupied by coal could be used for other 
freight, and four hands would be sufficient to man the 
ship, and conduct its operations. 

This product is admirably adapted to the manufacture 
of gas. It possesses all the properties of coal that are ne- 
cessary to this object, and has some advantages on the 
score of freight where it is necessary to transport it to a 
distance. As yet the crude oil is not much used for this 
purpose, as a more profitable disposition can be made by 
passing it through the distilling process, and using only 



PARAFFINE. 219 

certain portions for the production of gas. In the hands 
of some distillers there is a portion of tar produced from 
the residuum that is of great value in the manufacture 
of gas. It has been used with complete success in many 
of the factories of New England, and machinery has been 
invented and patented adapted to its use. 

There is another product of distillation that is used for 
the same purpose. It is the first product after the ope- 
ration of distilling commences, called gassolme, very 
volatile and explosive, but yet adapted to the purpose by 
a simple kind of machinery. There is a slight defect in 
the machinery used for making gas that may yet be ob- 
viated: it is the tendency of the gas to condense when 
the temperature is below freezing point. If this is obvia- 
ted then the way is opening up for lighting isolated houses 
and churches with gas where there can be no regularly 
organized gas companies. 

Paramne is prepared from oil in small quantites. This 
is"a tasteless, inodorous, fatty matter, fusible at 112°, 
and resisting the action of acids and alkilies. It is so 
named from its little affinity for other substances." — 
Br ancle. This substance seems to be a product of distil- 
lation rather than of mechanical separation. More paraf- 
fine is separated when the distillation is carried on at a 
high temperature than at a low one, as is indicated by 
the color of the distillate. When separated from the 
lubricating oil it is placed in bags and pressed, after the 
manner of pressing linseed oil. It then appears as a 
brown mass, and, after being washed in naptha, in which 
it is not soluble, the pressing is resumed until it assumes 
the hard white substance that is seen in the shops. It 
is used chiefly in the manufacture of candles. It is also 
used in the manufacture of chewing gum, but, after all, 



220 PAINTS AND VARNISHES. 

is not as valuable a property as some others found in 
the oil. 

The naptha, or benzine, a substance that results from 
distillation, and makes its appearance from the condenser 
previous to that of the burning fluid, was at one time 
considered valueless, and thrown away. It is now con- 
sidered valuable for many purposes. In the various uses 
to which turpentine was formerly applied, this substance 
forms a good substitute. In paints and varnishes it an- 
swers a good purpose, though, perhaps, not equal to tur- 
pentine. It has this good property, however: it is an 
admirable drier in paints and varnishes, where it is used, 
drying and forming a body with great rapidity. The 
same substance, when nicely deodorized, is used with 
great success as a renovator, removing paint and grease 
as though by magic, and leaving no trace behind. It can 
also be successfully used as a medium for the preparation 
of perfumery, as it can be thoroughly deodorized, and, 
when so prepared, does not differ greatly from alcohol. 
It is even asserted that brandy has been extracted from 
it by chemical processes. This is not at all unlikely, arid 
yet it is not probable that the cause of temperance will 
ever bring any serious charges against the petroleum trade 
on the ground that it contributes to the manufacture of 
ardent spirits. 

The heavier qualities of oil have been used successfully 
in the preparation of leather. Some tanners doubt 
whether it has sufficient body to make good leather, but 
a little preparation would, probably, obviate this diffi- 
culty. The heavy substance manufactured for lubrica- 
ting oil would, probably, be found to have sufficient body 
for all practical purposes. In the manufacture of patent 
leather, the heavy oil of French creek and Franklin is 



ESTHETICS OF PETROLEUM. 221 

said to answer most admirably. One manufacturer as- 
serts that it answers the purpose better than any sub- 
stance he has heretofore employed. 

But the aesthetics connected with the distillation of 
this oil must not be passed by in silence. On a pleasant, 
sunshiny day we see a bright globule of petroleum rising 
from the bed of the stream. It has had a long journey 
in reaching the regions of upper air from its bed deep 
down in the rock. It has forced its way through the 
crevices until, at last, it emerges from the bottom of the 
stream. As it reaches the surface of the water it dis- 
perses, and, as it glides away, all the colors of the rain- 
bow are reflected from its undulating surface. 

"What radiant changes strike th' astonished sight! 
What glowing hues of mingled shade and light! 
Not equal beauties gild the lucid west 
With parting beams o'er all profusely drest. 
Not lovelier colors paint the vernal dawn, 
When Orienl dews empearl th' enameled lawn, 
Than in its waves in bright suffusion flow, 
That now with gold empyrial seem to glow ; 
Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view, 
And emulate the soft celestial hue ; 
Now beams a flaming crimson on the eye, 
And now assumes the purple's deeper dye. 
But here description clouds each shining ray — 
What terms of art can Nature's powers display." 

That thin pellicle on the water's bosom is lighter and 
more evanescent than the morning mists, yet it possesses 
a world of beauty. We gaze upon those colors, ever 
changing in their lustre and variety, until imagination 
revels in its most delightful dreams, suggesting thoughts 
of the good and beautiful, and reminding us how beauty 
lingers amid the most unpromising things of earth ! Just 
19* 



222 colors. 

as the bow that spans the mantling cloud reminds us of 
all beautiful things that glow around its antitype which 
spans the emerald throne on high, so, as we gaze upon the 
prismatic tints that are reflected from the glowing sur* 
face of the oil globule, we dream of all that is beautiful 
in colors and gorgeous in tinted radiance as being hidden 
amid the elements of petroleum. 

This dream has its fulfilment amid the processes of dis- 
tillation and treatment. One product in this treatment 
is called Aniline ; that is the base of those beautiful colors 
in which ladies so greatly rejoice — such as Mauve, Ma- 
genta, Solferino. There is also a shade of blue called 
Cerulean, that causes one to dream of the calm blue sky 
after the storm has subsided; and still another, called 
Azurine, soft and delicate as the azure vaults above. 
And in process of time, no doubt, the most delicate colors 
for flower and landscape painting will be educed, that 
will give a new impetus to the fine arts and to the de- 
velopment of taste in our midst. But the whole matter 
relating to petroleum is yet in its infancy, and wonderful 
results yet await development in the processes of experi- 
ment and treatment. 



IMPORTANCE OF REFINING. 223 



CHAPTER XVII. 

REFINING. 

Thus far in the history of petroleum the most impor- 
tant use to which it has been applied is that of an illu- 
minator. Without it the world would now seem going 
back to darkness. It is particularly valuable in the 
country, and in small towns, where the population cannot 
be supplied with gas. And even where gas companies 
are in operation it is valuable as affording a soft, steady 
light, more grateful to the eye than that of gas. 

The oil as found in the wells is generally unfit for burn- 
ing in lamps. It was formerly used in the open air, in a 
rude kind of lamp or lantern, but with little satisfaction, 
as the smoke and odor accompanying the combustion of 
the crude oil were absolutely intolerable. But, by the 
refining process, aided by lamps of suitable construction, 
these difficulties are all removed, and, as far as an illu- 
minator is concerned, petroleum is the great blessing of 
the nineteenth century. \ 

The matter of refining is simple. It consists in remov- 
ing the coarse, heavy ingredients that partake much ol 
the nature of coal, and preserving the lighter portions. 

In this process, too, the volatile, explosive fluid is sepa- 
rated, and the offensive smell almost entirely removed. 
This process was somewhat understood many years ago, 



224 EARLY EFFORTS. 

and brought into requisition to prepare the small quan- 
tities of oil obtained by ditching and collecting with 
blankets. This, of course, was on a very limited scale, 
and not brought to much perfection. It was also brought 
to bear in the finishing of coal oil, obtained by distilling 
cannel coal. But there was no great stimulus to experi- 
ment or research. It was more curious than profitable. 
Modern oil operators have applied all the stimulus that 
was necessary. Enterprise, and science, and energy have 
been brought to bear in the matter, and now the opera- 
tion of refining and preparing oil for illuminating pur- 
poses has been brought to a very high state of per- 
fection. 

This matter was at first commenced on a very small 
scale in the oil region. At one time in Franklin, through 
the energy of a physician and an extemporized still, oil 
was manufactured each day for the wants of the town as 
it was required ; and it was an honest source of pride to 
feel that the oil was produced and refined within the 
limits of the town where it was consumed. 

But the matter soon began to enlarge. Begular appa- 
ratus was provided, and regular establishments erected, 
until the business of refining oil has become a prominent 
and important one, not only in the oil region, but in dis- 
tant places. It seemed at first natural that the business 
of refining should be carried on near where the oil is pro- 
duced, by way of economizing freight, but latterly almost 
every portion of the oil is utilized, so that there is little 
or nothing lost in the matter of freight, and frequently 
there is an advantage in refining in places where coal 
and labor is not so expensive as they are in the oil 
valleys. 

The business of refining, however, is largely carried on 



PRODUCTS OF REFINING. 225 

in the oil region. In Venango county alone there are 
• about ninety refineries, with a capital of about a million 
dollars, or an average of a little more than ten thousand 
dollars each. This business is carried on with success in 
the process, and profit in the final result, although, doubt- 
less, there is still great room for improvement both in the 
appliances and in the manipulation. 

The products of the oil in the process of distillation 
are much the same in every case, yet they differ much in 
kind and quantity. Sometimes the process is not carried 
out to the utmost capacity of the oil in producing burn- 
ing fluid, and a larger proportion turned in other direc- 
tions. Sometimes it is considered most profitable, and so 
most desirable, to reduce almost the entire mass to the 
one product of burning oil. The views of distillers differ 
in this matter, and the location of the refinery has its in- 
fluence in determining the process. In regions where 
fuel is scarce and^high, the residuum is profitable for 
fuel. In near proximity to coal fields it is better to use 
it in a different direction. 

The usual products of the process are benzine or nap- 
tha, burning fluid, lubricating matter, paraffine, and, when 
carried to its utmost extent, coke. Paraffine is not found 
in large quantities, and in the smaller refineries is not 
regarded as of sufficient importance to warrant particu- 
lar attention. In addition to these, there are some 
resulting substances that may be prepared after the deo- 
dorizing process has taken place, such as copperas and 
phosphate of lime, that are sometimes made profitable, 
particularly in connection with large refineries. 

The business is carried on in works of various capaci- 
ties. The stills seldom contain less than ten nor more 
than one thousand barrels ; usually the capacity is from, 



226 STILLS — CHEMICALS. 

twenty to fifty barrels. The stills are of wrought iron, 
set in masonry, with a furnace underneath for the adjust- 
ment of fire. The still is simply a mighty retort, with 
its pipe connected with a condenser, or long coil of pipe, 
in a vessel of cold w^ater, in which the vapor, driven off 
by heat, applied to the retort is condensed into benzine 
and "distillate," as the new product is termed. 

The chemicals used are sulphuric acid and caustic soda. 
These are employed in relieving the distillate of the in- 
tolerable odor that clings to the oil in almost all stages 
of the manufacture. Ordinarily, the smell of petroleum, 
when freshly drawn from the well, is neither injurious 
nor offensive — it is even pleasant ; but in the process of 
refining and deodorizing it is as bad as imagination can 
well conceive. There are as many distinct smells trace- 
able around a large refinery as Coleridge alleged could 
be detected at Cologne. But, withal, the process of re- 
fining does not seem to work unfavorably to the health 
of the workmen. 

In the process of refining, as now pursued, the still 
should be filled with crude oil to within one tenth of its 
capacity, the man-head securely packed, and the fire 
kindled underneath. As the mass within rises in tem- 
perature, a portion of the water that is found in all crude 
oil will separate and be drawn out at the proper orifice. 
It is remarkable with what tenacity the salt water and 
oil cling together. They have sojourned in loving com- 
panionship so long that it is hard to separate them. The 
union is like that of the prairie dog and owl, and even 
snake, in the same burrow in the western prairies — dis- 
similar in nature, and yet bound together by a commu- 
nity of interest. 

As the mass becomes warm, the first product of the 



PROCESS OF DISTILLATION. 227 

condenser is a very light, volatile substance, called Gaso- 
line, of a specific gravity of about 80° Baume. After 
this, and when the oil has reached a temperature of 212° 
Fahrenheit, the remainder of the water in the still will 
pass off in the form of steam, and be condensed as acid 
water. The product of the condenser is then benzine or 
naptha, from 80° down to 60°, when burning fluid begins 
to present itself; from 60° down to 38° the product is 
different grades of burning fluid, that are usually mixed, 
forming a light-colored oil when finished. Burning fluid, 
for economical and safe use in the household, should not 
be above a specific gravity of 46° Baume, and endure a 
" fire test" of 115° Fahrenheit, and not flash in the lamp 
when burning. 

The product of the still under 38° is treated differently 
at different establishments. Sometimes it is distilled, and 
a further per centage of burning fluid extracted ; some- 
times it is used for lubricating purposes, and at still other 
establishments the paraffin e is extracted. 

The practice differs materially in different parts of the 
country, both as affected by the views of different dis- 
tillers, and the comparative value of different products 
in the process. The practice is affected, too, somewhat 
by the character of the crude oil used. This differs in 
specific gravity from 38° to 50° Baume. The heavier 
oils, however, are seldom or never distilled, being more 
valuable for lubricating purposes. In some establish- 
ments the oil of the Allegheny and that of Oil creek are 
mixed, and in this way a compound of medium gravity 
is obtained that works most satisfactorily. 

The gasoline and naptha are then turned over to be 
treated, by being steamed down to a proper degree of 
gravity, for other manufacturing purposes. The distil- 



228 DEODORIZING. 

late is now ready for the deodorizing process. It is 
placed in a treating tank of iron or wood, lined with lead, 
called an " agitator," where it is agitated with a paddle- 
wheel, or, what is better, with a powerful wind blast, 
produced by the power of a steam engine. When this 
agitation resembles a miniature storm on the ocean, a 
portion of sulphuric acid, amounting to from three-fourths 
of one per centum to one and a half per centum, is added 
slowly, and the mass agitated from ten to thirty minutes, 
according to the views of the chemist. When the tank 
becomes quiet, and the mass settles, the impurities are 
drawn off from below, and one or more treatments made 
in like manner. 

When sufficiently treated with acid, and the impuri- 
ties removed, the treatment is resumed in the same man- 
ner with soda lye, or caustic soda dissolved in water. 
After being thoroughly agitated with this addition, and 
the further impurities withdrawn, lukewarm water is free- 
ly sprinkled upon the oil and allowed to run off, until the 
oil is found to be entirely free from impurities, when it 
is ready for market. 

The acid cannot be again used in this process, but need 
not be lost. It may be digested with scraps of iron, and 
afterwards roasted and made into copperas. The alkali 
may be used again and again, until it parts with its caus- 
tic properties. This may be restored by the addition of 
quick lime, and finally may be made to act upon bones, 
producing phosphate of lime. 

By way of contrast with the modern results of the re- 
fining process, the following extract of Professor Silli- 
man's report, made in 1855, is appended : — 

" Three hundred and four grammes of crude oil, 



silliman's report. 229 

submitted to fractional distillation, in a linseed oil bath, 
gave :— 

Temperature. Quantity. 

1st product, at 100° C. =212° F. (Acid water.) 5 grms. 

2d " at 140° C. to 150° C. = 284° to 302° F. 26 " 

3d " at 150° C. to 160° C. = 302° to 320° F. 29 

4th " at 160° C. to 170° C. = 320° to 338° F. 38 

5th " at 170° C. to 180° C. = 338° to 356° F, 17 

6th " at 180° G. to 200° G. = 356° to 392° F. 16 

7th " at 200° C. to 220° C. = 392° to 428° F. 17 

8th " at 220° C. to 270° C. = 428° to 518° F. 12 

Whole quantity distilled 160 

Leaving residue in retort ; 144 

Original quantity 304 

11 Product No. 1, almost entirely water. 

" Product No. 2, an oil perfectly colorless, very thin 
and limpid, but having an exceedingly persistent odor, &c. 

" Product No. 3, tinged slightly yellow, perfectly trans- 
parent, &c. 

" Product No. 4, more decidedly yellowish than the 
last, &c. 

" Product No. 5, more highly colored, thicker in consis- 
tency, and had a decided empyreumatic odor. 

" Product No. 6. This with the tw T o subsequent pro- 
ducts, were each more highly colored and denser than 
the preceding. The last product had the color and con- 
sistency of honey, .and the odor was less penetrating than 
that of the preceding oils. 

" The density of the several products of this distilla- 
tion shows a progressive increase, thus: 

No. 2 density, .733 

No. 3 " .752 

No. 4 " .766 

No. 5 « .776 

No. 6 " .800 

No. 7 " .848 

No. 8 " .854 

20 



230 PEOPERTIES. 

11 To form an idea of the density of these several pro- 
ducts, it might be well to state that sulphuric ether, 
which is one of the lightest fluids known, has a density 
of .736, and alcohol, when absolutely pure. .815." 

In regard to the properties of this oil, Professor Silli- 
man says : — ''Exposed to the severest cold of the past 
winter, all the oils obtained in this distillation remained 
fluid. * * * The chemical examination of these oils 
showed that they were all composed of carbon and hy- 
drogen, and probably have these elements in the same 
numerical relation. * * * The oils contain no oxy- 
gen, as is clearly shown by the fact that clean potassium 
remains bright in them. Strong sulphuric acid decom- 
poses and destroys the oil entirely ; nitric acid changes 
it to a yellow, oily fluid, similar to the changes produced 
by nitric acid on other oils ; hydro- chloric, chromic and 
acetic acids do not affect it ; litharge and other metalic 
acids do not change it or convert it in any degree to a 
drying oil ; potassium remains in it unaffected, even at 
a high temperature ; hydrate of potash, soda and lime are 
also without action upon it. 

" The oil is nearly insoluble in pure alcohol, not more 
than four or five per centum being dissolved by this agent. 
In ether the oil dissolves completely, and, on gentle 
heating, is left unchanged by the evaporization of the 
ether. India rubber is dissolved by the distilled oil to a 
pasty mass, forming a thick black fluid, which, after a 
short time, deposits the india rubber. It dissolves a little 
amber, but only sufficient to color the oil red. It also 
dissolves a small portion of copal in its natural state; 
but, after roasting, the copal dissolves in it as it does in 
other oils." 

Thus far Professor Silliman; but it must be remem- 



WANT OF A LUBRICATOR. 231 

bered that the oil submitted to his examination was the 
thick, heavy substance collected by ditching and forming 
pits. The results would have been very different with 
the lighter oils of Oil creek, brought up from the depths 
below. Still the report is valuable, as showing the pro- 
perties of the oil under the most unfavorable circumstan- 
ces attending the examination. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



LUBRICATORS. 



We come now to speak of petroleum as a lubricator. 
An unexceptional article of this kind was becoming one 
of the great wants of the age. With the multiplication 
of machinery, and the increase of business throughout the 
land and on the ocean, the want of an article adapted 
to all kinds of weather was exciting the inquiry of 
various classes of business men connected with railroads 
and manufactories everywhere. 

Petroleum appears to answer the conditions of such an 
article better than any other substance yet discovered. 
It has natural characteristics that adapt it to the purpose, 
is found in exhaustless quantities, and is produced at 
comparatively low rates. 

It has already been remarked that this oil is found 
with various degrees of densities. At Franklin, on 
French creek and Sugar creek it is sometimes found as 
great as 29°. This heavy oil is used almost exclusively 



232 COLLECTING OIL ON THE RIVER. 

for lubricating purposes, being much better adapted for 
the purpose than the lighter and more volative oils of 
Oil creek. There does not seem to be any difference in 
these different oils, save that the heavy oils being found 
nearer the surface, have parted with their naptha to a 
much greater extent than those found deeper in the rock. 
These heavy oils are used for various kinds of machinery 
without any preparation whatever, and for heavy rough 
machinery answers a very good purpose; for finer and 
more delicate works some little preparation seems to be 
necessary. 

For a year or two after the opening of the flowing 
wells, great quantities of oil was found floating upon the 
surface of the river. The great wells that were yielding 
many hundred barrels per day without tankage, and the 
frequent wrecking of boats during pond freshets in Oil 
creek, were attended by very great waste. The result 
was that for miles down the Allegheny, oil could be col- 
lected in almost unlimited quantities. The mode of 
procedure was to throw a boom out from the eddies 
along the shore at an angle of about forty-five de- 
grees. This boom received the oil while the water 
passed beneath. Sometimes instead of a boom, an old 
flatboat was thrown out in the same manner, and the oil 
thrown into the boat with dippers and buckets. On the 
shore an arrangement was provided for boiling, or rather 
heating, the oil, in order to draw off the more volatile 
portions, as well as separating any earthy matter that 
might be mingled with it. It was also strained to 
remove impurities. In this way the oil is fitted for 
lubricating purposes. In its voyage on the surface of 
the water it has parted with a large portion of its 
naptha, but has taken up many impurities. By the 



PURIFIED BY HEAT. 233 

heating and straining these are nearly removed, after 
which it is placed in barrels for market. 

At one time there was an extemporized establishment 
of this kind for every half mile of the distance from Oil 
City to Franklin, and even below for some distance. At 
some of these points were gathered at times ten barrels 
per day, being equal to a moderately sized oil well. 

At some of the refineries lubricating oil is prepared in 
large quantities. The practice differs at different estab- 
lishments. At some only about fifty per cent, of illumi- 
nating fluid is run off from the stills, and the remainder 
prepared for this purpose. At others, there is a much 
larger proportion of illuminating matter extracted, while 
at other stills very little lubricating oil will be produced. 
This will depend somewhat on different causes, gravity 
of oil, value of lubricator as compared with other pro- 
ducts of the still, and different views of refiners. Expe- 
rience and observation are leading to many changes in 
the manner of treating petroleum, and the indications 
now are that the lubricating oil will gradually cease in 
connection with refining, as all the residuum can be used 
to better advantage in other ways, and the manufacture 
be carried on independently with more profit, and per- 
haps yield an article of much better quality. Still all 
these processes are yet in their infancy, and must be 
governed by future developments. 

There are difficulties in the use of this oil, however, 
even when treated in the manner described. There is a 
slight grit that still remains, manifesting itself in use by 
discoloring the journals of the machinery, showing that 
there is a constant but slight wear of the material. 
There is also a slight gum that forms in its use, that 
takes up and retains the dust, together with a slight 
20* 



234 THE HENDRICK LUBRICATOR. 

trace of an acid that operates unfavorably upon the 
machinery, particularly that which is of a fine quality. 
Various experiments have been resorted to to set free 
these deleterious substances. 

It is found on analyzing the petroleum that the grit is 
due to a species of rotten-stone that is held in solution 
with, and derived probably from its native beds. To 
this, its old companion in the rock, it clings most per- 
sistently, even after being brought to the surface, and it 
is only by a peculiar process that it can be separated 
from it. The slight trace of acid is also brought from 
the same place of repose, and held in equally close com- 
bination with it, until separated by chemical means. 
When these two operations are performed the petroleum 
begins to assume a very important place and value in 
manufactures. 

Establishments are already in operation for the manu- 
facture of this article, and its value and importance 
give the subject a growing interest. One of these, the 
"Great Northern Oil Company," have already com- 
menced operations in Franklin with flattering prospects 
of success. Their principal article of manufacture is 
what is called the "Hendrick Lubricator," for which a 
patent is already secured in the United States, Canada, 
and England. This article appears to have been used 
with great success on our railroads, steamships, and in 
our manufactories for three years past, so much so that 
its success seems assured. Various grades of oil ^are 
manufactured adapted to different kinds of machinery, 
and prepared by different processes. 

For coarser and heavier machinery the oil is not dis- 
tilled but refined. It is first placed in a large tank 
through which pipes filled with steam are passed keeping 



ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 235 

the oil up to a temperature of nearly 212° for a consider- 
able length of time. By this process the inflammable 
portions of the oil are driven off, ensuring its safety, 
and at the same time not deteriorating its quality. The 
rotten-stone and mineral acid are then removed by a 
process known to the workmen, and a particular com- 
pound added that adapts it to the purposes in view, 
when it is deodorized, barreled, and ready for use. 

For the finer and more delicate kinds of machinery a 
somewhat different process is resorted to. The oil is 
first distilled to remove the heavier and grosser portions. 
It then passes through the processes indicated above, 
and is adapted to any machinery from a sewing machine 
to a steam engine. 

The characteristics of this lubricator appear to be 
valuable. It is entirely free from grit, gum, or acid, as 
is manifest from the ajjpearance of the machinery where 
it is used, there being no discoloration of the journals by 
friction in their boxes. It does not become rancid by 
age as whale oil does ; nor like lard oil does it thicken 
in winter and become thin in summer. There is another 
advantage this article in its manufactured state has over 
the crude. It is not inflammable nor explosive. While 
crude oil will ignite at 100°, this is entirely safe at 200°. 
Another valuable quality is that it does not congeal even 
when the mercury is at the freezing point, and can be 
used at all times with ease in the open air in winter. 

This preparation has a strong affinity for itself, and 
manifests this by being tenacious and ropy to the touch, 
pre-eminently adapting it to the place it is designed to 
hold, at the same time it is diffusive and searching when 
applied to machinery. The finer qualities of this article 
differ in appearance from the best sperm oil only in the 



236 EARLY COMPANIES. 

peculiar blue tinge that accompanies petroleum in all 
the varieties in which it is manufactured. This lubrica- 
tor has the advantage of other substances of similar 
design, on the score of economy, being furnished at 
about half the price of sperm oil. 

As a lubricator, this and similar articles manufactured 
from petroleum, are assuming a very great importance, 
and are, no doubt, destined to take the place of all other 
substances now in use. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. 

The first companies that were organized for the de- 
velopment of the oil business did not succeed well. They 
were not incorporated as a general or even ordinary 
thing. There was very little responsibility connected 
with them, any further than as members were possessed 
of private property, and were convenient to the locality 
where operations were carried on. The members of 
these companies were held together by a rope of sand. 
They would withdraw at any time. The company was 
liable to be abandoned at any time, by discouragement, 
or failing means on the part of its members. When 
this took place, the property of the association was 
usually first applied to the liquidation of the debts, and 
sold for a trifle, and the balance of the indebtedness 



EARLY COMPANIES NOT SUCCESSFUL. 237 

might be collected from the nearest member who had 
means within reach of the law. 

This being the case these companies or associations 
became unpopular. Besides they were not calculated in 
the nature of things to carry out the purposes intended. 
There was really no capital raised. It was simply an 
assessment of such sums as were necessary to carry on 
the work from time to time, and, of course, the work 
was feebly done. Its only result must be disappoint- 
ment and failure. In all the oil valley there is perhaps 
not a single case where one of these large, irresponsible 
companies carried forward their operations to the final 
advantage and benefit of its members. 

Ko doubt the best possible way of carrying on the oil 
business is for one, or two, or three persons of capital and 
energy to procure a site, either by purchase or lease, and 
carry on the business under their own personal inspec- 
tion. The prospects of success are greater in this way 
than in any other. But this cannot always be done. 
All men of energy have not capital, and all men of 
capital have not energy. Still capital must control 
labor, while the world remains as it is at present, and 
some plan must be adopted in order to give labor and 
small means an opportunity to engage in this business, 
even at the risk of injury from the capital. 

In order to attain this end, and open the way for per- 
sons of small means to risk, if not benefit their available 
means, " joint stock companies" have been instituted and 
many of them carried on with great success and advan- 
tage to the stockholders. These companies are incorpo- 
rated under the laws of the States in which they are 
organized, as there is an act of the Assembly of the State 
of Pennsylvania permitting "foreign incorporations" to 



238 A JOINT STOCK COMPANY — HOW ORGANIZED. 

hold lands and transact business on her soil. These 
laws differ in different States, and their application is 
different in different companies. 

The manner of getting a joint stock company in ope- 
ration is usually the following : — A piece of property 
supposed to be " oil territory" is acquired, or perhaps 
several pieces are acquired, by a few gentlemen who em- 
ploy a solicitor to take the necessary steps to procure an 
act of incorporation. The titles to the property are 
examined, and a good and sufficient conveyance is exe- 
cuted from the owner to the corporation, in exchange for 
which the entire number of shares into which the 
company is divided is handed over to them. Sometimes 
there is a provision made for " working capital;" either 
so many shares are sold for this purpose, or the projec- 
tors place a given sum in the hands of the treasurer for 
this purpose. 

This transaction takes place as soon as the company is 
organized and the officers appointed, and at the same 
meeting, a set of by-laws are adopted. The company is 
then in working order. 

The shares have a certain par value, which must be 
plainly expressed on the face of the certificate, and on 
the books of the company. These shares may be sold, 
however, at a price below or above par as parties may 
agree ; but whatever price the shareholder may pay for 
his shares he is not liable for any assessments thereupon, 
unless provision is made in the by-laws for such assess- 
ment. The directors or trustees are liable for the debts 
of the company if they do not set them forth in the 
annual statement required by law. 

This is the general plan for the organization of these 
companies; but the principles and practice differ so much 



NUMBER. OF COMPANIES. 239 

in different States, that it is impossible to go into all the 
details. The practice differs very much even in the 
same State. In some cases the whole stock is issued in 
payment for the land, in others a part only : the questions 
of capital, expenses, and other matters being arranged 
by each company to suit itself. 

The number of these joint stock companies is some- 
thing over six hundred, of which one hundred are paying 
dividends of from one to fifteen per cent, per month; 
but new ones are constantly organizing, particularly in 
the large cities. Of these six hundred companies, some- 
thing over one-half of the number have their principal 
offices in Philadelphia ; New York comes next in order, 
followed by Pittsburgh. Philadelphia has three hundred 
and twenty-nine; New York, one hundred and fifty-two; 
Pittsburgh, seventy-seven ; Cleveland, nine ; Boston, 
eight; Baltimore, eight; and Erie, four; the remainder 
are scattering. The nominal stock varies from fifty 
thousand to ten millions of dollars, the par value of the 
shares being from one to one hundred thousand dollars 
each. The nominal amount of capital represented by 
these companies is about three hundred and twenty-five 
millions of dollars. These embrace all the companies in 
the United States, operating on the joint stock principle. 
It is impossible to state definitely how many of these are 
operating in Venango county, but it may reasonably be 
supposed that much the larger portion of them are 
developing lands in this county. The whole product of 
petroleum from the States of Ohio, Virginia, and Ken- 
tucky was estimated in February, 1865, to be less than 
one thousand barrels per day, whilst in Venango county 
it cannot fall short of seven thousand barrels per day; 



240 CAPITAL INVESTED. 

so that the conclusion is a rational one that the majority 
of these companies are connected with this county. 

This capital is drawn from all sections of the country, 
and from all classes and conditions of life. Some of the 
shares are purchased in the oil valleys, and some in the 
most distant portions of New England. The millionaire 
is represented in these stocks as well as serving woman. 
The professional man has his certificate of stock laid 
by among his professional papers, and the farmer often 
trusts to this more than to the success of his crops. 
Dazzling stories are read of sudden and enormous 
wealth that has been secured in the oil regions, stories 
that are many of them true, for truth is often stranger 
than fiction in this region, and multitudes become intoxi- 
cated with the idea of being independent and free from 
care. And so the demand for shares in flattering oil 
companies, instead of diminishing is increasing. New 
companies are forming, and the business seems flattering 
as ever, and the mighty tide of capital is swelling, until 
the question is very naturally asked, "What will be the 
final result?" 

The laws of the State of Pennsylvania, under which 
these companies are organized and carry on their opera- 
tions, have been enacted and revised at various times, in 
order to adapt them as far as possible to the circum- 
stances of the case. The act of 1864 is in the following 
words : — 

" Three or more persons who may have associated 
themselves together, by articles of agreement in writing, 
for the purpose of carrying on any mechanical, mining, 
quarrying, or manufacturing business in this common- 
wealth, except that of distilling or manufacturing intoxi- 
cating liquors, and shall have complied with the provi- 



LAWS REGULATING THEM. 241 

sions of this act, shall be and remain a corporation, under 
any name indicating their corporate character, assumed 
in their articles of association, and which is not previously 
in use by any other corporation or company." (Pamph- 
let LWs 1864, p. 1102.) 

" It shall be lawful for the Governor, whenever the 
certificate of the organization of any such company shall 
have been duly executed, in conformity to the said pro- 
visions of the said acts or acts, and filed in the office of 
the Secretary of the Commonwealth as therein provided, 
to issue letters patent under the seal of the Common- 
wealth, declaring the subscribers to the stock of any such 
company, and also those who may thereafter become 
subscribers or holders of the said stock, to be a body 
politic in deed and in law, in the same manner and form 
as is now provided by law in other cases." (Pamphlet 
Laws 1855, p. 462.) 

The surrender of the power of these companies may 
be accepted by the county courts, and provision made 
for the settlement of their accounts. This is done on pe- 
tition of the corporation, under its seal, and with the con- 
sent of a majority of its corporators. This surrender 
must not, however, in any wise remove any limitation or 
restriction in such charter. The accounts, also, of any 
such dissolved company shall be settled in such court, 
and be approved thereby ; and dividends of the effects 
shall be made among any corporators entitled thereto. 
(Pamphlet Laws, 1856, p/293.) 

Companies, by their directors, may pass such by-laws 
for their regulation and government as they may see fit ; 
provided such by-laws shall not be repugnant to any of 
the laws of this Commonwealth, or of the United States. 
(Pamphlet Laws, 1854, p. 437.) 
21 



242 PENNSYLVANIA MINING LAWS. 

Shares of stock, for all legal purposes whatsoever, shall 
be deemed and treated as personal estate. (Pamphlet 
Laws, 1854, p. 437.) 

The liability of stockholders in such corporations is set 
forth in these words : — 

" The stockholders of any and all corporations under 
this act shall be personally liable for all sums of money 
due to laborers or operators for services rendered within 
six months before demand made upon the corporation, 
and its neglect or refusal to make payment." (Pamphlet 
Laws, 1864, p. 1107.) 

The act of April 9, 1856, seems, however, to include 
materials furnished for carrying on these operations, as 
well as all debts contracted in carrying the product to 
market and selling the same. (Pamphlet Laws, p. 283.) 

Companies not organized under the laws of Pennsyl- 
vania are permitted to hold lands and carry on their ope- 
rations under certain restrictions. The words of the act 
of Assembly, of 1864, are the following: — " Any corpo- 
ration, association or company hot incorporated under 
the laws of this State, may acquire, hold and convey, not 
exceeding three hundred acres of land in this Common- 
wealth for mining purposes." (Pamphlet Laws, p. 1098.) 

As many of these associations are formed under the 
laws of the State of New York, a brief reference to their 
laws may be made, although they do not differ materially 
from those of Pennsylvania. In forming companies there 
must be set forth, in the certificate filed in the office of 
the Secretary of State, the corporate name, objects for 
which the company shall be formed, amount of capital 
stock, term of its existence, not exceeding fifty years, 
number of shares into which the stock shall be divided, 
number of trustees and their names, who shall manage 



NEW YOEK MINING LAWS. 243 

the concerns of the company for the first year, with the 
names of the town and county where the operations of 
the said company are to be carried on. (Laws of New 
York as amended, 1857, ch. 262.) 

If these operations are to be carried on out of the 
State, the certificate shall so state, and also the town and 
county where the business is to be carried on in the State 
of New York, and this shall be the principal place of 
business within the meaning of the provisions of the act. 
(Laws, 1857, ch. 29, § 3.) 

Trustees may call upon stockholders for all sums sub- 
scribed by them, under the penalty of forfeiting the 
shares of stock subscribed for, and all previous payments 
made thereon, if payment shall not be made within sixty 
days after the said demand has been properly made. 
(Laws, 1860, ch. 269, § 9.) 

" All the stockholders of every company incorporated 
under this act shall be severally individually liable to the 
creditors of the company in which they are stockholders, 
to an amount equal to the amount of stock held by them 
respectively, for all debts and contracts made by such 
company, until the whole amount of capital stock fixed 
and limited by such company shall have been paid in," 
&c. (Laws, 1860, ch. 269. § 10.) 

" A stockholder," however, " is not liable for debts of 
the corporation which were contracted before he became 
a stockholder." (Tracy v. Yeates, 18 Bart., 152.) 

" A stockholder is liable only to the amount of his 
stock." (Woodruff & Beach, iron works, v. Chittenden, 
4 Bosworth, 406; Garrison v. Hone, 17 New York Re- 
ports, 458.) 

" Nothing but money shall be considered as payment 
of any part of the capital stock." (S. 14.) 



244 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES. 

The same authority is given to companies as in Pennsyl- 
vania of making by-laws for their regulation and govern- 
ment, with the same restriction, viz: that they shall not 
be repugnant to the laws of the State. 

The principles on which these companies proceed are 
just and equitable, and if all men were just and right- 
eous in their dealings, the plan would generally work to 
the advantage of all parties concerned. The business of 
searching for and procuring oil must necessarily be hence- 
forth in the hands of capital. Matters have assumed 
such a form that the man of moderate means cannot em- 
bark in the business, for large capital is indispensable. 
Now, the theory in regard to these companies is that capi- 
tal may be secured by many persons of small means, in 
connection with others of greater ability, contributing 
what is convenient to a common stock, and thus be pre- 
pared, in the aggregate, for competing with individuals 
of large capital. In theory it is like many little streams 
uniting their waters to form the river, on whose wide 
bosom commerce seeks its way to the ocean. There are 
many persons, too, whose tastes and avocations in life 
will not permit them to engage directly in this business, 
who, by connecting themselves with it by means of stock, 
may, probably, realize some profit from the connection. 
Persons at a distance, who may have no knowledge of the 
practical operations connected with the business, may, in 
connection with a company in which they have confi- 
dence, realize handsomely from even small investments. 

As to the practical operation of these joint concerns, 
there has been a very great variety of experience. They 
need not necessarily fail — they will not always succeed. 
Very many of them have been prosperous beyond the 
most sanguine expectations of their originators and stock- 



TRUE AND FALSE. 245 

holders. If the site selected be a judicious one, if rich 
cavities be opened, and the affairs of the company be ad- 
ministered judiciously and faithfully, there is every pros- 
pect of success, with large dividends and liberal advance 
in the value of stock. Some of these companies have 
already declared dividends of from fifty to two hundred 
per cent, per annum. And some of these associations 
have been managed most admirably. In fact, some of 
the best business men and financiers in all the land have 
been connected with them, who have brought to bear 
their ripened experience, their practical knowledge, and 
their stern and inflexible integrity, in placing these com- 
panies on the best possible footing. 

When a company has become possessed of a valuable 
territory, and has succeeded in developing it successful- 
ly, and managed it judiciously and honorably, its char- 
acter becomes established, investment in its stock becomes 
safe, and its profits liberal. 

But in stock companies, as in other things, there is the 
good and the evil — the true and the false. In all the 
details of business the case is the same. The spurious 
bank note goes on its way with the genuine, and often 
it is difficult to distinguish between them; yet the 
existence of the counterfeit does not condemn the genu- 
ine note, nor throw discredit upon the banking sys- 
tem. Beyond all question, there are spurious and worth- 
less stock companies. It could not be expected that it 
would be otherwise, for all men are not what they 
should be. 

There may be two classes of unreliable and worthless 
companies. A company may be organized in good faith, 
and all its operations conducted with integrity and a de- 
sire to secure the best interests of ths stockholders, and 
21* 



246 STATUS OF STOCKHOLDERS. 

yet fail of realizing the expectations of those connected 
with it. The lands may not prove productive. Instead 
of pumping and flowing wells, there may be nothing but 
"dry diggings;" and the result will be, that either as- 
sessments must be resorted to in order to develop new 
territory, or the company must disband, with the loss of 
all that was invested, and possibly a burden of debt to 
be liquidated in the best manner possible. 

Again, it is a possible thing for the whole matter to be 
mixed up with unfaithful dealing on the part of the ma- 
nagers. "Worthless lands may be procured, or a small 
extent of promising land, with a large extent of mere 
valueless soil appended, and the stock disposed of with- 
out any earnest honest intention of realizing for the 
benefit of the stockholders. The whole matter is carried 
forward in unfaithfulness and fraud, and the result is 
disaster and disappointment to the stockholders. There 
are numerous safeguards thrown around this business by 
the law, but where there is a disposition to do wrong, 
the opportunities are not wanting; besides, the very na- 
ture of the business precludes the large number of stock- 
holders from knowing much about the way in which 
operations are carried forward. The company is, per- 
haps, organized in New York, or Boston, or Philadelphia. 
The work is carried on in Venango county, and the 
stockholders are, perhaps, scattered over different States 
in the Union, and all must ordinarily be left to the trus- 
tees and managers of the company. 

Under these circumstances, then, it is not strange that 
many a hardly earned dollar finds its way into the rock, 
or what is worse, into the coffers of the sharper, to come 
not back again. Nor is it strange that many a brilliant 
dream of wealth and competence vanishes as the dreams 



CAUTION TO BE USED. 247 

of the night, leaving the dreamer to write " Ichabod" on 
his faithless certificates of stock. 

But all this does not condemn these companies in their 
principles and practical operation. Very often stock- 
holders ill worthless companies purchase stock heedlessly 
and recklessly, and have but themselves to blame for 
their misfortunes. In this matter, as in every other con- 
nected with the practical business of life, care and cau- 
tion must be exercised; dazzling promises must not be 
trusted; inflated advertisements must be believed spa- 
ringly, in the absence of positive knowledge either of the 
location, or of the integrity and judgment of the mana- 
gers of the company. 

Nor should extravagant expectations be indulged in, 
under the best circumstances. This mad and eager haste 
to be rich induces many to invest all, and more than they 
really possess, in oil stocks, under the delusive notion 
that sudden fortune is within their grasp. Among the 
tens of thousands who are mingling in the oil business 
in some form or other, it is manifestly impossible that all 
should become wealthy, for it requires a vast accumula- 
tion of money to constitute wealth in these days of pe- 
troleum. 

Yet, after all, with reasonable care and judgment, and 
reasonable expectations in regard to a return, small in- 
vestments in this promises as favorably as any other \ 
branch of business. And where there is but a small 
capital at hand, investment in joint stock companies, 
when made with care and caution, is the best way of ap- 
proaching the matter. 

At the present time, companies that pay dividends at 
all, usually declare them monthly. There is a kind of 
pressure in this that does not always work to the advan- 



248 DEMAND FOR DIVIDENDS. 

tage of tlie company or the stockholders. The great ma- 
jority of these companies are struggling for popularity 
and for life itself; and, in order to establish confidence 
and secure a respectable footing, it is supposed desirable 
to declare frequent dividends, conveying the idea that the 
company is in a flourishing condition. This may or may 
not be the case. Companies that are in a condition, as 
many of them are, to declare such dividends without 
straining their capacity or sacrificing their product when 
the market is dull, may safely do so ; but there is a temp- 
tation in the way of feeble companies to declare monthly 
dividends, when, in order to do so, ihey are obliged to 
force their product on the market at a very low price, 
and thus work serious injury to their interests. Still, the 
demand is for frequent dividends, and for stock that never 
fails to be reported as paying monthly, even though semi- 
annual, or even yearly dividends would conduce more 
largely to the prosperity and general interests of the 
compan i 



CHAPTER XX. 

ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM. 

And now where shall we look for the origin of this 
treasure? From what elements is it elaborated? We 
cannot go with the great Chemist to his laboratory, and 
look upon the ingredients, and notice the treatment em- 
ployed there. We cannot notice the number and volume 



OEIGIN WHEN? — WHERE? 249 

of the retorts, nor loot upon the mighty furnace fires 
that promote the distillation, nor can we tell when this 
mighty supply was laid up in the rocky tanks. Science, 
although denominated the "star eyed," cannot pentrate 
the mighty strata of everlasting rocks that lie beneath 
us, and reveal to us those mysteries of nature. There is 
a bound that the Almighty has placed when he says, 
"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther." 

" Nee scire fas est omnia." 
Nature is God's mighty domain; we may traverse a part 
of this domain, but not the whole extent, for we are 
finite, and the resources of our minds limited to a narrow 
horizon. God alone is great ! " There is a path that no 
fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen : 
the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion 
passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; 
he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth 
out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every 
precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing; 
and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light." 

Nature has her mysteries. The earth has her great 
secrets. But over all a God of wisdom and goodness 
presides. Age after age has rolled by, change after 
change has agitated the history of Time, as forms of 
beauty have been moulded and marred, as songs of joy 
have been sung, and requiems of sadness chanted in the 
great highways and quiet by-paths of life, the living of 
bygone ages are slumbering quietly in the dust, and the 
living of the present are hurrying to the same " pale 
realms of shade." The nations of antiquity have passed 
off the stage with all their grandeur and littleness, and 
the nations of modern times are surging and dashing to 
and fro, like in the wild chaos of ocean's storms. 



250 TESTIMONY OF THE EOCKS. 

We go back to the history of time, ere " the morning 
stars sang together" their joyous refrain as earth emerged 
from chaos, and there is still a history — a strange, a 
wondrous, a mysterious existence. But this history is 
not chronicled in the annals of time ; it is written not 
on pillars of brass, nor leaves of parchment, but upon 
the mighty leaves of the everlasting rock that make up 
the volume hidden beneath the earth's surface. This 
history is written by the same finger that graved the 
sublime words of the Decalogue on tables of stone upon 
Mount Sinai. 

11 The testimony of the rocks" assured us that stupen- 
dous changes were working in the earth's constitution 
before there were created eyes to look upon them, or 
rational intelligence to become conscious of them — that 
age after age rolled by under the guidance of the great 
Governor of all things, all tending to the one great sub- 
lime point w T hen earth should emerge from her darkness 
and gloom, and become a fit abode for man — " Of all 
God's works the latest and best," a fitting theatre for the 
great tragedy of all the ages, and all the universe. 
"Mercy and truth meeting together, and righteousness 
and peace embracing each other!" 

And during all the changes that have elasped since 
man was placed upon earth, a strange, mysterious work 
was perhaps going forward beneath us in the earth's 
bosom. A great dream of science, but perhaps an ear- 
nest, glowing reality suggests, that when God's almighty 
power was gradually preparing the earth for man's 
dwelling place, rolling away the curtains of darkness, 
forming channels for oceans and rivers, and heaping up 
as barriers the mountain chains of earth, his eternal pre- 
science of man's coming need induced him to bury deep 



NOT MERE THEORY. 251 

down in earth's subterranean recesses the imperfect 
vegetable organisms of a pre- Adamite state, that in the 
ages to come, coals, and oils, and gases might be drawn 
forth to supply his wants. 

This is not mere theory. The hand- writing of nature 
on the rocky pages beneath, assure us that such was the 
case. The carboniferous age as revealed to us in the 
mighty coal strata of the earth assures us that so far, at 
least, we are drawing our supplies of fuel from the dead 
organisms of the mighty past ; and analogous reasoning 
would lead us to the conclusion that our present supplies 
of petroleum are drawn from the same wonderful source, 
and proceeding from the same mysterious origin. 

"We find in the coal deposits traces of ferns and leaves 
of gigantic stature and proportions. Casts of huge boles 
of trees are found among our fossils, inducing the belief 
that in some bygone age quantities of vegetable matter, 
absolutely enormous, were produced on the earth's sur- 
face. Now the counsels of the Almighty are one and 
uniform. From the moment when this world assumed a 
place in his infinite plan of creation in chaotic confusion, 
down to the dawn of time, and thence onward to the 
final epoch in its history, when it will be purified by 
fire, and made beautiful in purity and holiness, the 
design was one, to prepare earth for a habitation for 
man, and the working out of grand and glorious results. 
The wonderful production of vegetable matter in a by- 
gone age, as the material from which coal and petroleum 
was to be produced, would be as much a part of that plan 
as the drying up of the earth's surface to prepare the 
way for the creation of man. 

It was no mere accidental circumstance that this 
vegetable deposit was changed to coal and oil, nor was 



252 VEGETABLE DEPOSITS. 

it a merely fortuitous event that in these last years these 
stores of wealth were brought to light. It was the time 
appointed in the eternal counsels for their appearance. 
It was the fulfilment of the word of life, that earth 
should supply abundantly the wants of all the creatures 
moving upon its surface. 

Judging from the testimony of the rocks there was a 
period in the eons of God, when the earth was literally 
burdened by immense masses of vegetation, when fronds 
were mighty trees, when huge foliage extended in every 
direction, and when reeds and rushes were so gigantic 
that, compared with them, 

" The tallest pine 
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to he the mast 
Of some great admiral, were but a wand." 

Stillness and quiet reigned around. Every thing was 
favorable to the production of this rank, luxuriant 
growth of vegetable matter. 

But revolution has been characteristic of this world's 
history, in the periods written on the rocks, as well as 
since the birth of time. The age of this wonderful vege- 
table deposit must pass away, to give place to new 
scenes in the great work of preparation for man, and it 
is presumable that in some of these revolutions that 
have agitated our planet, renovating, improving, and 
fitting it for a higher order of life, mighty deposits of 
this vegetable matter were buried up amid the rocky 
strata, to be revolved in new forms and products. 

There is a law of attraction that runs through all the 
Creator's works here, that, no doubt, operated in the dis- 
position of this vegetable deposit. The black-sand on 
the lake shore is attracted together, and is found col- 
lected in strata, so when the mighty revolution that 



HEAT. 253 

buried up these primeval forests was mingling all things, 
this vegetable matter, by its inherent attraction, segre- 
gated itself from other substances, and settled down in 
immense masses in particular localities, ready for the 
changes that were to pass upon its substances. And it 
may be that since the days of Adam this vegetable 
deposit has, under certain circumstances, been under- 
going the process of destructive distillation in the hidden 
regions beneath. In this process heat would not be 
wanting : it is furnished by the natural constitution of 
the earth. 

Says Professor Hitchcock : — 

" Whenever in Europe or America the temperature of 
the air, water, or rocks, in deep excavations, has been 
ascertained, it has been found higher than the mean tem- 
perature of the climate at the surface, and experiments 
have been made at hundreds of places; it is found that 
the heat of the earth increases rapidly as we descend 
below that point in the earth's crust to which the heat 
extends. The mean rate of increase of heat has been 
stated by the British Association to be one degree of 
Fahrenheit's Thermometer for every forty-five feet; at 
this rate all the known rocks in the earth would be 
melted at a depth of sixty miles." 

But we need not think it necessary to descend thus 
far in the earth's crust to find the phenomena of great 
heat. It is often found near the surface. It bursts forth 
in melted rocks from the summits of mountains. Vol- 
canic action is seen and felt everywhere. Through fis- 
sures in the primeval rocks this heat may find its way to 
the buried strata of vegetable deposits, and produce all 
the action that is necessary for the carrying out of the 
theory of vegetable origin. 
22 



254 ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS. 

Here then, we have all the conditions necessary to the 
production of petroleum. The vegetable deposit was 
made amid the rocks, we know not when ; internal heat, 
with perhaps chemical action, has been decomposing 
that matter, and setting free its gases ; these again have 
been condensed as they approached the surface, and 
have filled up the cavities, and accumulated amid the 
rocks, until, in these last days, the earth has literally 
poured out her unctuous treasures. 

Again, as to the vegetable origin of petroleum, or 
rather that coal and oil have the same origin, we have 
these facts ; oil almost identical with petroleum is 
manufactured from coal. A single ton of cannel coal 
placed in the retort will yield forty gallons of oil very 
similar to the product of the wells, and the simple agent 
used is heat in a confined position. Here is the proof 
from analysis. On the other hand we can manufacture 
coal from oil as it comes from the wells. In the process 
of distillation and refining, when the process is carried 
to the last degree, a substance is found in the bottom of 
the still strangely like anthracite coal. It lacks but the 
one process, that is pressure, to make anthracite coal. 
Here we have the proof from synthesis. And to 
strengthen this theory, we find coal of two different 
varieties in various parts of our land. One is the bitu- 
minous, that is found chiefly on the western slope of the 
Alleghenies, soft and full of fatty matter ; the other on the 
eastern slope, hard, dry, and destitute of any oily matter, 
showing evidently that the action of heat has passed 
upon it, driving off its gasses, and leaving it in much 
the same condition as the bituminous, after the oil is 
extracted. Whether our present oil deposits are from 
the distillation of the coal beds on the eastern slope of 



DIFFERENT STRATA — CAVERNS. 255 

the Alleghenies is another question. Most probably, how- 
ever, they are due to a work going on beneath us, or 
further toward the southwest, whither the inclination 
and trend of the rock strata would seem to lead. A 
reasonable theory would seem to be that in the entire 
region of country where we now find the oil valleys 
there was at one time an internal sea, that after the 
great deposit of vegetable matter, in some grand revolu- 
tion, a mighty deluge of sand swept over- it; still further 
changes brought the mud deposit, then the sand again, 
until, at the final settling down of the different strata, a 
hardening process took place through the agency of heat 
and pressure, until we have now the diffierent strata of 
shale and sand rock, resulting, so far as discovered, in 
seven alternate strata of these two general characters. 

In this hardening process we would naturally expect 
to find the rock twisted or bent, broken into fissures and 
seams, and even in cavities of great extent. This would 
be the case particularly if these changes were accompa- 
nied by volcanic action. The brick is of much smaller 
proportions after it is burned than before, as it has all its 
moisture driven out by heat ; so the space occupied by 
the hardened rock must be less after it has been dried 
and solidified by internal heat. The product of the con- 
traction would be crevices, cavities, and, if volcanic power 
be superadded, great caverns distributed here and there, 
that would be fit receptacles for the oil when distilled 
from the vegetable matter below. 

Before the discovery of flowing wells, it was generally 
supposed that the oil was found running in slender chan- 
nels and leaders through the rock, like water veins near 
the surface. But their spasmodic overflows have demo- 
lished this theory. The mighty fountain can only proceed 



256 VEINS ONLY PIERCED. 

from some great reservoir. The " burning well" flowed 
twenty thousand barrels in a comparatively limited space 
of time, and others have flowed steadily from one to three 
years. We can only account for these phenomena on the 
supposition of great reservoirs in the broken rock, more 
or less connected with each other. 

But we need not necessarily proceed on the supposition 
that in any case these large caverns have been actually 
tapped. The probabilities are that they have not been 
reached in any instance, for the cases are rare where the 
bit has sunk any great distance when a vein of oil has 
been reached — in no case, perhaps, more than from six 
to twenty inches. It is probable that simple veins or 
crevices are tapped, that lead to the grand reservoir far 
beneath. In some cases vertical crevices may be struck 
that are of considerable extent, and in others horizontal 
veins, that run in various directions, until they lead to 
the fountain of supply. These veins are of all possible 
sizes — some very minute, furnishing the simple " show of 
oil," that is at times so deceptive to the workmen, and 
sometimes like the jugular vein, that leads to"" the centre 
of supply. 

Such crevices and veins are found in the different 
strata of the rock in boring, and the probabilities are 
that in the rock near the source of supply they become 
larger as the space occupied by the vegetable deposit be- 
comes smaller. The consequence would be, then, that 
the gasses and oil would rise and fill these cavities, and 
find their way upward until they would eventually pre- 
sent themselves at the earth's surface. 

These cavities being at different depths, and the veins 
running in every possible direction, accounts for the fact 
that wells are found yielding oil at different depths in 



THE SOURCE AS YET UNEXPLORED. 257 

the same neighborhood, and even different qualities of 
oil ; and also, for another fact, that wells within forty 
feet of each other do not in the least interfere. It is only 
when the same horizontal vein is tapped by different par- 
ties that the interference takes place. 

But the different qualities of .oil found at different 
depths shows that the product is due to distillation. At 
Franklin and on French creek it is found nearest the 
surface. At Evans' well, at the depth of seventy-two 
feet, the density is 29° Baume ; other wells in the vicinity, 
but deeper, yield 32°, while the deeper wells of Oil creek 
are from 40° to 46°, showing that as we descend amid 
the rocks the oil assumes a point nearer a gaseous state, 
containing more naptha and a less proportion of heavier 
substances. 

The rock where this supply is formed seems to belong 
to the Devonian age, but where it had or has its origin 
we cannot determine. The project has been suggested 
of sinking a shaft down to the region where it is found, 
of such size that the character of the strata might be de- 
termined by ocular demonstration, descending literally 
among the rocks, and looking at the oil in its hidden 
home ; but the project is surrounded by insuperable diffi- 
culties, arising from the ingress of water, and the loose, 
open nature of many of the strata. Should the " Dia- 
mond well," referred to in another chapter, prove of 
practical value, it will add greatly to the knowledge we 
have already attained in regard to the structure and 
character of the rocks. 

So far all is left to speculation. The hidden path yet 

remains unexplored. It may always remain so ; but we 

have the great fact of Divine Providence, in the rich and 

copious supply, that is nevertheless valuable because it 

22* 



258 WILL THE SUPPLY BE PERMANENT? 

flows from an unknown source, and comes to us through 
unexplored channels. The practical fact is before us — 
we may amuse ourselves with theories as we may think 
best. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

PERMANENCE OF THE SUPPLY. 

And here another question of great and weighty im- 
portance arises in regard to the supply of petroleum. 
Will it be permanent ? Is it laid by in sufficient quanti- 
ties, either as oil, or the material from which oil is dis- 
tilling, to supply the wants of man through all coming 
time? These are important inquiries, and cannot be 
fully answered ; yet we can draw light from other of the 
resources of nature, and from the history of other oil de- 
posits throughout the world, as well as from what we 
know of the structure of the rocks in our own region 
and the general operations of Providence. 

We are often disposed to distrust Providence, when 
there is no ground to doubt His goodness and faithful- 
ness. There is as little room to doubt the continuance 
of this rich supply as that of other natural supplies. 
There was a time when rational, intelligent men feared 
that the coal would all be exhausted, and the world be 
left to perish for want of fuel. This was so much the 
feeling in England a few years ago that a commission 
was appointed to make a geological survey, and report 



NO GROUND FOR DOUBT. 259 

on the subject. The result of the survey and investiga- 
tion was, that there was coal in the mines of England 
alone, to answer all the purposes of the nation for many 
thousand years, or until England should no longer need 
fuel. So it was in our own land before geological sur- 
veys had opened up the resources of our country. Its 
existence was not suspected in many places where it now 
abounds, and its extent is greatly magnified to our ob- 
servation in regions where we before knew of its pre- 
sence. The wants of the world, and the pressure of these 
wants, lead to investigation, and this results in discovery. 
The light of the past is surely worth something in this 
matter. We read of it first on the plains of Shinar four 
thousand years ago ; it is found in the same locality at 
this day. We read of slime-pits, or petroleum springs, 
in the days of Abraham — they have not yet disappeared. 
We read of the building of Babylon in the sacred book, 
and Herodotus, Diodorus the Sicilian, Josephus, and other 
profane historians tell us that its walls were cemented 
with bitumen, and that this bitumen was brought from 
the banks of the Issus, a tributary of the Euphrates. The 
testimony of modern travelers is, that this substance is 
found in large quantities on the Issus at the present time. 
No doubt there were wise Babylonians in the days of 
Nimrod, and Semiramis, and Nebuchanczzar, who pre- 
dicted that the pitch on. the banks of the Issus would 
soon be exhausted, as they were drawing so lavishly upon 
it to build the walls and towers and monuments of the 
great city. Still they went on building and enlarging 
and beautifying that wondrous city, and drew all the 
petroleum that was needed, and still the supply did not 
fail; and it is bubbling up there freely now, and, no doubt, 
some new Nimrod might go on and rebuild the fallen 



260 THE ANCIENT SUPPLY UNEXHAUSTED. 

city, and another Semiramis enlarge it from the same 
material, and still not exhaust the supply. 

Petroleum, in much the same form in which we find it 
in our own valleys, was gathered in Asia, on the banks 
of the Irrawaddy, as long hack as we have authentic his- 
tory to guide us. The Burmah wells have been famous 
for more than two hundred years. They have been 
yielding about one thousand barrels annually, under the 
unfavorable circumstances connected with them, and yet 
manifest no signs of failure. 

If we come down to more modern times, we find petro- 
leum, in the form and under the name of Barbadoes tar, 
produced largely in the West India Islands. It has, for 
many years, been largely exported to almost all foreign 
countries for medical purposes, without, as yet, making 
any impression on its quantity, or reducing it in any per- 
ceptible degree. Humboldt, writing in 1799, speaks of 
the product of oil in the same island as being immense, 
in the form of naptha, (most probably the form in which 
we find the oil here) .spreading itself over " a large sur- 
face of the sea." Petroleum is found in the West India 
Islands in large quantities still ; a flow of sixty-five years, 
that was, no doubt, constant in its quantity, has not ex- 
hausted it. 

The same might be said in regard to the yield in our 
own valleys. We can trace its history here for one hundred 
and twenty years. It was as plenty then on the surface 
as now. It could be gathered during all these years in 
quantities as great as the limited machinery employed 
would admit. Vast quantities made its escape every year 
that was not noted. It bubbled up through a thousand 
cavities in the beds of our streams, was beautiful for a mo- 
ment as it spread itself upon the water, and then vanished 



MAY NOT COAL BE EXHAUSTED? 261 

forever. It oozed forth from small crevices in the rock, 
and found its way to the surface of the ground, and 
evaporated, leaving little signs of its presence. The 
gases dispersed themselves in an invisible form through 
the atmosphere, and were unnoticed. Still there was no 
inconsiderable amount of petroleum produced from year 
to year. Yet we find the store-houses to be amply filled. 

It may be said that never before was there such a drain- 
age upon the fountain as now, and that in the history of 
the ancient wells alluded to, modern American genius 
and enterprise had never been brought to bear. Even 
so, but the same argument might be brought to bear in 
the coal supplies, and made to show that they would 
soon be exhausted, since ocean steamships and modern 
machinery of various kinds are making such havoc with 
their stores. The only difference consists in this, as far 
as the force of the argument is concerned : The coal beds 
lie near the surface, and a very clear approximation 
can be made as to their volume, and the extent of their 
resources ; whereas petroleum lies far down in concealed 
caverns and rocky recesses, where no human eye can 
penetrate, and no human hand can gauge its quantity or 
compute its volume. Yet there is no more reason to sup- 
pose that the latter will in time be exhausted than the 
former. 

The whole history of the past may be searched in vain 
to find evidence that would lead to a fear that the oil 
deposits will eventually be exhausted. Not a single ar- 
ticle that has been supplied for the comfort or welfare of 
man has ever been withdrawn by the hand that gave 
*it. New articles are brought to light again and again, 
new uses for articles already well known are frequently 
discovered, but not one instance where an article has been 



262 FEARS CONCERNING TIN. 

largely developed, and of great practical utility, is re- 
corded as having been withdrawn from use by a failure 
in the supply. It would be preposterous, then, to sup- 
pose that an article of such general utility, and capable 
of being brought to bear in so many of the operations of 
life, should be thus exhausted, and cease to be known 
among the great staples of the world. 

As an example of the inexhaustible nature of all the 
really useful productions of the world, mention might be 
made of tin. For a long time it was found only in Corn- 
wall, England. The veins that contained it were com- 
paratively small and insignificant. It was secreted in 
hard granite. Mining operations were carried on with 
great difficulty and expense. The territory where these 
small veins were found was limited, and it seemed that 
the supply must soon be exhausted. Yet those Cornwall 
mines have been supplying the world with tin for more 
than twenty-five hundred years, and are not yet exhaust- 
ed. There is evidence that this metal, more highly valued 
then than now, found its way to the Temple of Solomon. 
It finds its way still into every temple and household 
throughout the civilized world. 

So it will be with petroleum. If the demand is greater 
than for tin, the sources of supply are larger, the evi- 
dences of its dissemination wider and more extensive. 
There is really no more reason to apprehend a total fail- 
ure of this article than of the wood of the forest, or the 
coal of the mines. We may feel sure that it has taken 
its place among the valuable and indispensable articles 
that belong to the human family for all coming time. 

We have already noticed the supplies that were laid* 
down in the unknown ages of the history of the world, 
and, from the character of the vegetation of that age, we 



INDEFINITE CAPACITY. 263 

may well imagine that that supply would be copious. We 
do not find in the oil-bearing rock any fossil remains, be- 
cause the region cannot be exposed to ocular view. The 
rock that is brought to the surface in the sand pump is 
beaten fine almost as the dust of the balance. Its sub- 
stance can be detected, but not its peculiar characteris- 
tics. But, on the surface of the rock, and in the strata 
that crop out from the hills all over the oil region, we 
find remains of vegetable deposit. Its paleontology is 
peculiarly rich and abundant. We cannot doubt, then, 
but that the deposit of vegetable matter beneath is plen- 
tiful if not inexhaustible. 

We have indubitable evidence that the structure of the 
rock is broken and open. The number of water veins is 
evidence of this. The mud vein spoken of in a previ- 
ous chapter affords corroborative proof, inasmuch as it 
suggests that not only water but earthy deposit has per- 
colated through the rock to a great depth beneath the 
surface. And the fact that, with scarcely an exception, 
the operation of boring has revealed seams and crevices, 
confirms the opinion that both the sand-rock and shale 
are broken and seamed, and filled with cavities. Now, 
these cavities may be of very great extent, deeper than 
the drill has ever pierced ; these cavities may be larger 
and more extended than they appear to be in regions 
partially explored. No doubt they ramify in all direc- 
tions, reservoir connected with reservoir, and these with 
connections that extend upwards through a stratum not 
so largely seamed and broken, until they approach the 
sphere to which boring operations have already extended. 
This latter region appears to be full of comparatively small 
cavities, and to be reticulated by leaders that run in al- 



264 OIL STILL FORMING. 

most all directions, but growing smaller and more con- 
fined as they approach, the surface of the rock. 

If this theory be correct then, and the nature of the 
rock be more open and broken and upheaved as we de- 
scend, we may naturally expect that the cavities far be- 
neath will be capable of furnishing an inexhaustible 
supply. 

But w r e have no evidence^that the formation of oil has 
ceased in the regions below. We know that the mighty 
furnace fires are still kept up, and there is reason to believe 
that the store of vegetable deposit was at the first ample, 
and why may we not suppose that the mighty retorts in 
the rocks below are still kept in active operation ? There 
is no limit, surely, to Omnipotence. And if we take the 
mode of his operation, as we see it carried forward on 
the earth's surface, as a criterion by which to judge, we 
shall be strengthened in the belief that the same course 
of production and supply is carried out in the regions 
below. As a general thing, every year produces its own 
harvests. The ground is constantly changing. Through 
the action of air and rain and frost and the running streams, 
the soil is deepened and made productive. The forests 
grow and decay, assisting in the same design. The coral 
insect, by its minute yet ceaseless labors, raises islands 
and peninsulas from the ocean's depths, to add to the 
aggregate of tillable land, as the inhabitants of earth in- 
crease. The currents and streams of the ocean preserve 
its waters, while the winds and storms purify the air and 
render it healthful. The waters evaporate and pass up- 
ward, to return again in the form of rain and snow, to 
refresh the earth and minister to the comfort of its in- 
habitants. There is a ceaseless, constant change going 



OIL DEPOSITS IX FEW LOCALITIES. 265 

on all around us, in oider to work out grand, blessed 
results for the good of earth's inhabitants. 

Changes analagous to these are most probably going 
on in the great deeps that cannot be fathomed by mortal 
lines, and that cannot be searched by mortal eyes. The 
same power operates there that is more clearly visible at 
the earth's surface. The same hand makes provision 
beneath as above, and the same activity in operation and 
fertility of supply would be manifest there, could we see 
it, as is so obvious in the times and seasons of our daily 
experience. 

11 Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never failing skill, 

He treasures up His bright designs, 
And works His sovereign will." 

We need not be led by this reasoning to suppose that 
the supply either of vegetable deposit, or the process of 
distillation or production of oil, is to be found in every 
part of the earth's interior. At the time when the for- 
mer was laid down in its place of repose, there were pe- 
culiar causes, no doubt, in operation, by which this mass 
of vegetable* organisms was aggregated in particular lo- 
calities. Mighty revolutions, no doubt, accompanied the 
changes in the earth's features, as it was gradually ap- 
proaching its present form. In the Devonian age, when 
this deposit was made, as the earth's crust was heaving 
and agitating,- rapid currents of water would naturally 
bear it in masses to deep basins and cavities, assisted in 
part by the attractive powers of its own particles. This, 
in turn, would be buried by the deluge of sand, and 
this again by mud and dark-colored sediment, that now 
constitute the sand-rock and shale. 

In some other revolution the superincumbent mass 
23 



266 WELLS WILL GO DRY. 

would be broken, and contorted, and upheaved until the 
vast caverns were provided as the retorts and tanks of 
the great Disposer ; the fires commenced their operation, 
and the oil and gas began their upward journey. Now 
these fires have not yet been extinguished. They will 
continue until the period when "the elements will melt 
with ferventheat," and when "the earth also and the works 
that are therein shall be burned up." We have no 
reason to think that the supplies for its production have 
been exhausted, and may then reasonably infer that the 
process of manufacture is still going on, and that it 
cannot be exhausted. 

But in the face of all these theories the question is 
asked: — "Do not wells become exhausted?" "Are there 
not instances on record where wells have ceased their 
supplies altogether, and is not this an indication that all 
will do so?" Wells do cease to flow, and those that 
have been worked by means of the pump have also be- 
come quiet, and ceased their supply. But this is no 
indication that all will do so. We find many trees in 
the forest that are dead, but that is no indication that 
the forests are decaying, and will soon die out. We find 
coal veins sometimes suddenly running out. The miner 
will find a " fault," as he terms it, when instead of coal 
he will find nothing but a bank of earth, or perhaps solid 
rock. But this does not discourage him. He mines 
through the earth or rock, and finds a new vein of coal 
as rich as the first. And it may reasonably be supposed 
that there are "faults" in oil veins. One vein may be 
exhausted, or one cavity may be drained that may re- 
quire long years to fill up, as the veins of supply may be 
exceedingly small. But there may be others in the 



NEW WELLS WILL BE OPENED. 267 

same neighborhood as rich as the first, that require only 
to be pierced to obtain a new supply. 

But wells may cease their supply from other causes 
than simple exhaustion. The supply may proceed from 
a long, thin crevice, and this crevice may become closed 
by mechanical means. Sometimes there are presented 
thin scales of paraffine, indicating the presence of this 
substance in the well ; this paraffine may gradually ad- 
here to the opening in the crevice until it becomes her- 
metically sealed up. Or the same result may be accom- 
plished by the settling down of sand and earthy particles 
from the side of the well. Sometimes when a well ceases 
its supply it can be resuscitated by boring deeper, but 
not always. The very operation of boring sometimes 
fills up the crevices more firmly than ever by pounding 
and forcing particles of sand and mud into them beyond 
the hope of relief. 

The mere fact, then, that individual wells occasionally 
cease their supply is not evidence that the general 
supply is either failing now, or is in any danger of 
ultimate failure. The same failures occur at times ia 
wells of water for domestic use, in coal mines, and in 
beds of iron ore. It is more particularly true in regard 
to the mines of silver and gold, and cinnabar in our 
new States. Yet these occasional failures are not re- 
garded as evidence of any decline in the business. 
When a water well gives out it is dug deeper, or a new 
well provided. When a vein of coal or iron ceases to 
yield, through a " fault," the work is continued until a 
new vein is opened, and in regard to the precious metals, 
when a leader gives out, it is sought in a new place. And 
this doubtless will be the case in the oil business. Wells 
will fail, sometimes to be resuscitated, at others to be 



268 SUPPLY OF OIL VAKIABLE. 

abandoned. New wells will be opened in the same 
neighborhood with abandoned wells, better than the 
former ones, and so the supply will be kept up from time 
to time, with greater or less constancy. 

The region of oil producing land will no doubt 
be much extended. Profitable development on the 
Allegheny, Oil and French creeks will stimulate the 
matter of prospecting in other parts of this and other 
counties and States, resulting in the discovery of other 
deposits, that will assist in keeping up the supply, and 
meeting the increasing demand that is springing up in 
all portions of the world. 

It is not at all unlikely that the annual supply may 
vary from year to year. This has been the case already. 
During particular years when vast numbers of flowing 
wells were opened the supply was immensely increased ; 
and when these decreased, and resort was had to pump- 
ing, the aggregate supply was materially reduced. This 
may be the case in the future. Peculiar causes may 
induce a large amount of exploration that may result in 
large additions to the stock of oil produced, and, on the 
other hand, different causes may lead to a different state 
of things ; attention directed to other branches of busi- 
ness, and for a time neglect of this ; but the general result, 
no doubt, will be that the supply of petroleum will be 
kept up while there is need of artificial light to carry on 
the operations of life, whilst any of the purposes to which 
it is now applied remain to be fulfilled, and until' the 
present organization of society and the world shall have 
been finally changed. To go upon any other supposition 
would be to suppose that the course of nature, and the 
operations of Providence would be changed, and God's 
wisdom and power cease to be adequate to the supply 
of the wants of his creatures. 



SMALL IN THE BEGINNING. 269 



CHAPTER XXII. 

GROWTH OF THE OIL BUSINESS. 

The history of the growth and expansion of this trade 
is the most remarkable in all the operations of men. At 
first, as we have had occasion to notice, it was small 
and almost contemptible. Considered simply as a drug, 
valuable, but of little importance in trade, very little 
attention was paid to it. It was considered a curious 
product, a lusus naturae almost, but no one imagined that 
it would ever assume proportions so gigantic as those 
that characterize* it at the present time. First a few 
bottles would find their way out of the immediate 
neighborhood where it was produced. Then a quantity 
somewhat larger, but sold in the shops under a fictitious 
and foreign name, as though the adage M a prophet is not 
without honor, save in his own country " was applicable to 
the productions of the earth. In the course of half a cen- 
tury after the settlement of the oil valleys by civilized 
people, it had not gained a particle either in the way 
of appreciation or pecuniary value. The difficulty of 
forcing itself upon the market seemed as great as that 
of forcing its way up through the rocks. But both ends 
seem very readily attained at the present time. 

Previous to the year 1859 hardly a barrel of petroleum 
found its way to market, but during that year the great 
23* 



270 HOME CONSUMPTION. 

highways of trade were opened to receive it. The man- 
ufacture of oil from coal had been the means of prepar- 
ing the way for its advent. The matter of refining and 
deodorizing coal oil was brought to bear on the new 
article so suddenly thrust upon public attention, and at 
once the demand was constant and permanent. So it 
has continued to be until the present time, with the ex- 
ception of a short period- when the flowing wells seemed 
likely to deluge the land with oil at a merely nominal 
price. 

Perhaps, at the present time, there is not more oil 
produced than two years ago. But withal the business 
is growing. The product then was in excess from causes 
already stated ; now it is steady and regular, not in 
excess of the demand, and in every respect healthy and 
prosperous. 

It now occupies a very large place in home consump- 
tion. From the various uses to which it is applied, and 
which are multiplying from year to year, the demand has 
been steadily increasing. The demand comes from every 
State and Territory of .the Union, except those whose 
markets have been closed during the stern arbitrament 
of war; and now this is ended, there will soon be 
a new source of demand, and a new field to supply. At 
first it was regarded simply as an illuminator, now it is 
wanted for very many other purposes, and next year 
perhaps it will be applied to many purposes not even 
imagined at the present time. And just in proportion 
to the number and magnitude of the uses to which it is 
applied will the demand increase provided the sources 
of supply are kept up. 

From the best information that is at hand the con- 
sumption in our own land during the year 1864, must 



INCREASE OF EXPORTS. 271 

have been one million two hundred thousand barrels. 
The principal portion of this was refined, and used as an 
illuminator, the remaining portions in the various arts 
and practical operations of life. 

The growth of the export trade has been steady and 
regular. At first it was difficult to introduce petroleum 
to the notice of Englishmen. A cask of the article at 
Liverpool was clothed with almost as many terrors as a 
supposed infernal machine. But the English are a prac- 
tical people, and' understand their own interests as w^ell 
as any other nation, consequently they soon began to 
value the American production in something like its 
true light. Next to England, France appears to appre- 
ciate the new commodity, as certified by her imports, 
reaching during the year 1864, the amount of four mil- 
lions six hundred thousand gallons. 

The following table will be interesting and instructive, 
as exhibiting not only the growth of the trade, but the 
universality of the use of petroleum throughout the 
civilized world. The exports from New York alone are 
given to their different points of destination ; from the 
other points the destination is not given ; probably no 
new points are embraced in the shipments from these 

ports. 

1863. 1864. 

From New York Gallons. Gallons. s 

To Liverpool 2,156,851 734,755: 

London 2,576,331 1,430,710 

Glasgow, &c 414,943 368,402 

Bristol 71,912 29,134 

Falmouth, E 623,176 316,402 

Grangemouth, E 425,334 

Cork, &c 1,532,257 8,310,362 

Bowling, E 87,164 



272 STATISTICS OF EXPORTS. 

1863. 1864. 

From New York Gallons. Gallons. 

To Havre 1,774,890 2,324,017 

Marseilles 167,896 1,982,075 

Cette ....... 4,800 

Dunkirk .. 232,803 

Dieppe 46,000 79,581 

Rouen 143,646 

Antwerp 2,692,974 4,149,821 

Bremen 903,004 971,905 

Amsterdam 436 77,041 

Hamburgh 1,466,155 1,186,080 

Rotterdam 757,249 522,926 

Gottenburgh *... 33,813 

Cronstadt 88,060 400,376 

Cadiz and Malaga 33,284 55,674 

Terragona and Alicanti 33,000 16,823 

Barcelona — 25,500 

Gibralter 308,450 69,181 

Oporto 2,339 17,474 

Palermo 57,115 7,983 

Genoa and Leghorn 399,674 635,121 

Trieste 3,000 165,174 

Alexandria, Egypt 4,000 

Lisbon 64,662 167,195 

Canary Islands 5,125 3,358 

Madeira , 400 

Bilboa 2,500 

China and East Indies 36,942 34,388 

Africa 12,230 25,195 

Australia 304,166 377,884 

Otago, New Zealand '. 5,500 10,810 

Sydney, New South Wales 43,012 97,880 

Brazil 160,152 140,677 

Mexico 69,451 112,986 

Cuba 356,436 418,934 

Argentine Republic 24,470 ' 28,260 

Cisalpine Republic 117,626 78,552 



STATISTICS OF EXPORTS. 273 

1863. 1864. 

From New York Gallons. Gallons. 

To Chili 66,550 92,550 

Peru 256,467 169,061 

British Honduras 440 6,072 

Guiana 15,104 7,881 

" West Indies 60,931 70,976 

" North American Colonies.... 16,995 28,902 

Danish West Indies 31,503 8,463 

Dutch " " 12,143 26,638 

French " " 9,104 16,020 

Hayti 12,064 7,088 

Central America ;. 456 993 

Venezuela 15,405 29,583 

New Grenada 107,837 57,490 

Porto Rico 59,439 20,626 



Total gallons 18,542,586 26,281,059 

The following was shipped from other ports during 

the same years :—?- 

1863. 1864. 

Gallons. Gallons. 

From Boston 2,049,431 1,696,308 

Philadelphia 5,595,738 7,760,148 

Baltimore 715,896 929,671 

Portland 342,082 70,672 

Total 8,703,147 10,456,799 

Add New York export 18.542,586 26,281,059 

Total export from United. States 27,445,733 36,737,858 

Same in 1862. .>. 10,887,701 gallons. 

From this table we see the dispersion of the trade. 
Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, as well as 
Islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, come 
in for a share of the exports, and, as it has just been 



274 CAPITAL INVESTED. 

introduced into many of these places, the hope is not an 
unreasonable one, that, as its value becomes known, there 
will be a largely increased demand from year to year as 
long as the supply continues. In most of the places 
enumerated in the table petroleum was unknown four 
years ago, except perhaps as a medical agent, or as a 
natural curiosity. In 1861 forty casks were sent to 
France as a curiosity ; the next year some four thousand 
casks were sent there by way of experiment, now this 
country competes with England in her demand. The 
foreign demand for illuminating purposes alone would be 
very great in a short time, but as new discoveries are 
made, and new uses developed for the product a very 
rapid increase in the demand may readily be expected, 
that can only be qualified by two considerations, to wit, 
large discoveries in foreign countries, or a large falling 
off in our own country. 

As to the former, the idea is not an extravagant one 
that the same means being employed, and the same ener- 
gy put forth that are brought to bear in the development 
of the trade here, there may be like success. Still, we 
are not sufficiently acquainted with the geological fea- 
tures of foreign countries, where this product manifests 
itself, to arrive at any opinion in the matter. As to the 
other modifying condition, the falling off in the supply 
from the oil region in this country, there is no ground to 
indulge in fear ; on the contrary, every indication points 
to a large extension in the sources of supply. 

During the past year new capital has been seeking in- 
vestment in the oil region to an extent absolutely as- 
tounding. The very circumstances of the country are 
favorable to the growth of the trade. Capital is abun- 
dant. Hopes of increase are large, and the petroleum 



EXPLORATION STIMULATED. 275 

land seems the land of promise. Lands that were valued 
at thousands a few years ago are now valued at millions. 
Capital that was formerly seeking investment in railroad 
stocks, gold and silver stocks, iron and coal stocks, is now 
rushing tumultuously into the oil valleys, finding em- 
ployment there, with a fair show of success. It is en- 
tirely safe to put down the capital connected with the 
petroleum business in the United States at four hundred 
and fifty millions of dollars. Of this more than one half 
is connected with Venango county. 

Now, as a very large amount of capital has been in- 
vested in oil lands, or lands supposed to overlie oil, and 
this supplemented by other capital set apart. for the de- 
velopment of these lands, the supposition is a reasonable 
one, that a large amount of valuable oil lands will be 
rendered productive in the course of the current year. 
The same energy that has characterized the past, and 
that has been attended with so much success, will be 
brought to bear in the development of these new lands, 
and will, no doubt, be attended with similar success. 

Nor is the idea a correct one, that these new lands are 
probably worthless. No doubt many portions of them are. 
But, as explorations proceed in new portions of Venango 
county, on the tributaries of the streams where operations 
have hitherto been carried forward, they have been at- 
tended by the most gratifying success. In many places 
the new territory has rivalled if not excelled the old. 
And just in proportion as the field is widening, and 
capital increasing, will the trade increase, until, at no 
distant day, it will surpass in magnitude and importance 
any other branch of trade in the whole land. It is al- 
ready pressing hard upon the iron and coal interests. It 
will soon overleap in importance the gold and silver pro- 



276 PETROLEUM TRADE UNPARALLELED. 

ducts of the western States and territories, and the entire 
yield of cotton in the southern States in their most palmy 
days. 

The business is in a more flourishing condtion now than 
it has ever been before ; new capital is entering into its 
development, and parties engaged in it are quite satis- 
fied with its progress. There are, of course, drawbacks 
and discouragements; these belong necessarily to all en- 
terprises ; but the general features of the entire business 
are most encouraging and promising ; and, unless all ra- 
tional indications usually manifested in the progress and 
development of trade should fail, the petroleum business 
has before it a grand and brilliant future. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

PRESENT ASPECT AND IMPORTANCE. 

The petroleum trade is singular and unparalleled in 
the world's history. Like Minerva, in Grecian fable, 
springing mature and full-armed from the brain of Ju- 
piter, it has sprung in almost mature strength and vigor 
from the earth's bosom. It has worn no swaddling bands. 
It has required no gentle nurture, no fostering care, to 
enable it to eke out an existence until time should give 
it strength and harden its muscle, but has leaped at once 
into the arena of the world's traffic, and is now the peer, 
if not the superior, of all other branches of trade. In 
less than one year from the moment of its inception, it 



FLOURISHING CONDITION. 277 

has fairly eclipsed the whale fishery, gray with time, and 
strong through the energy and vigor with which it has 
been prosecuted. And who can measure its extent in 
the future, since it can only be limited by the sources of 
the supply flowing in the depths of the laboratories of 
the Great Chemist ? No doubt the stores of earth and 
the supplies of time are all limited, but it is only by the 
wants of His creatures, and not by the power of the Al- 
mighty. If earth, on its surface, " briugeth forth herbs 
meet for them by whom it is dressed," we can have as 
little doubt that deep in its bosom there is an exhaust- 
less supply of minerals, to neutralize its cold, to dissipate 
its darkness, and to contribute in various ways to the 
comfort and enjoyment of its inhabitants. And among 
these gifts and resources petroleum stands forth in the 
front rank. It is God's greatest gift of the nineteenth 
century. 

The trade is flourishing as no trade ever did before. A 
few years ago petroleum was not found in the price lists 
of the market. A few years after it was first begun to 
be developed it was with fear and trembling that capi- 
talists embarked in its operations ; now it is quoted as 
regularly as gold. It is found on the stock board — nay, 
it has a stock exchange of its own, a thing that cannot be 
said of any one other article of trade. It is attracting 
more attention and interest than all other branches of 
trade or commerce. Men of science, and lovers of nature, 
and explorers of her hidden resources and mysterious 
law T s, are giving it their attention, and contributing the 
results of their knowledge toward its development. Capi- 
talists are investing their funds with unsparing measure 
in prosecuting its details, and the very nation, torn and 
bleeding and suffering, looks to it as the great resource 
24 



278 IMPORTANCE TO MANUFACTURES. 

from which it is to draw its recuperative energy now 
that the war has drawn to a close. As yet there is not 
a circumstance to indicate that the resources of the trade 
are in the slightest danger of lessening, much less of 
drying up. Its appearance is that of a vigorous young 
tree, luxuriously covered with leaves and blossoms, and 
full of promise for the future. 

The influence of petroleum on general trade can hardly 
be overestimated. With all due allowance for inflation 
and over-trading, and undue extension of business, its 
effect has been most salutary and beneficent upon the 
general interests of trade throughout the country. In 
these peculiar times it has supplied a field for the em- 
ployment of capital that has had a kindly influence in 
all our business affairs. 

Its importance to the manufacturing interests of the 
country is very great. New branches of mechanical busi- 
ness have been called into existence, and all branches 
stimulated to new life and energy. In the matter of 
"driving pipe" alone, an idea may be formed of the de- 
mand, when it is remembered that in the prosecution of 
a single well from one to three tons of metal pipe are 
driven in reaching the rock preparatory to boring ; and 
although there are regions along the Allegheny where 
but little pipe is necessary, the rock lying near the 
surface, yet in other places it is so deep that one hun- 
dred feet are sometimes driven, at an expense of s^me 
seven dollars per foot. 

Boring implements, too, have called for a vast amount 
of labor and material. A complete set of these is fur- 
nished at about three hundred and twenty-five dollars, 
and when it is remembered that the wells are numbered 
by thousands, each company having, as a general thing,' 



IKON MANUFACTURES. 279 

a set for each well that is bored, the capital invested in 
these alone is not by any means small. 

Steam engines are as numerous in the oil regions as 
cooking stoves in the kitchens. They are of various 
kinds, and as many forms as Proteus had shapes. There 
are several thousand now in active operation in Venango 
county, and hundreds are arriving every week. These en- 
gines are manufactured in various parts of the country — - 
in Pennsylvania, New York, New England and Ohio, 
and in their construction a vast amount of material is 
required, and a great number of workmen employed. 

The manufacture of " chamber," or " tubing," is an impor- 
tant item in the manufacturing interests of the country. 
Each well requires from four to six hundred feet of 
chamber, at a cost of from one to two and a half dollars 
per foot. Cable and rope for boring and sand-pump 
attachment must also be taken into the account, with 
other items that swell the amount of mechanical business 
pertaining to the mere matter of putting an oil well 
into operation, to a very large amount. 

But there are other matters outside of the mere matter 
of boring and pumping that must be taken into the 
account. Some of these matters are new, others are the 
expansion of branches of business that are already in 
successful operation. In the manufacture of lamps and 
glassware connected with lamps, there is a very large 
amount of capital invested, and a great number of 
laborers employed. In the city of Pittsburgh there are 
five establishments engaged exclusively in the manufac- 
ture of lamp chimneys, turning out four thousand dozen 
weekly. There are also eight establishments engaged 
chiefly in the manufacture of lamps, and two others give 
their entire attention to this branch of the business. 



280 MANUFACTURE OF BARRELS. 

These factories employ from one to two thousand work- 
men, and embrace a capital of about half a million of 
dollars. This business has sprung up too within the last 
three or four years, 

The business of refining and preparing lubricating oil 
is one of immense extent. The former requires exten- 
sive and costly machinery and fixtures, with large quan- 
tities of expensive chemicals, the production of which 
gives employment to workmen in all portions of the 
country. Venango county alone has within its limit 
from ninety to one hundred refineries, with an aggregate 
capital of one million dollars. These refineries are 
springing up in other portions of this, as well as in 
various portions of the neighboring States. 

The manufacture of barrels is a large item connected 
with the business affairs of the country. At the incep- 
tion of the trade these were generally manufactured by 
hand, and in the old orthodox manner of country barrels, 
laboriously shaved from prime oak timber, and hooped 
with hickory hoops. But the demand was too great, 
and prices too remunerative for this business to remain 
in the old paths. Native energy was put forth, and new 
plans adopted. Good timber was becoming scarce in 
many parts of the country. Eesort was had to the use 
of machinery, bringing into use a poorer quality of 
timber, and producing barrels with great facility and 
dispatch. In some factories the staves are sawed out to 
the proper shape and put together after being kiln-dried, 
hooped with iron, tested with the air-pump, and sent to 
the oil wells in large quantities. This brings the timber 
lands into higher estimation than they were held before, 
furnishes labor to farmers during the winter season in cut- 
ting and hauling timber, to workmen in the barrel fac- 



RAILROADS — LABOR. 281 

factories, and makes a demand for labor generally 
throughout the oil country. But this matter is not con- 
fined to the oil region. Barrels are brought in large 
numbers from a distance. They are floated down the 
Allegheny river from the State of New York, and 
brought up the river from Pittsburgh below. They are 
brought from Ohio by teams, and from every direction 
producers are certain of a market at remunerative prices. 
For refined oil a rather better class of barrels is required, 
as the wastage is of more importance. These barrels 
are usually coated on the inner surface with a prepara- 
tion of glue, or some other substance that w r ill resist the 
action of the oil. 

Railroads have been constructed for the accommoda- 
tion of this business alone. Along the valleys of Oil 
creek, French creek, and portions of the Allegheny, 
where the citizens never dreamed of seeing a locomotive 
or hearing its wild scream, these have become familiar 
sights and sounds. On all the roads that have been con- 
structed in the oil region, the trains are crowded both 
with freight and passengers. Boiling stock cannot be 
procured in sufficient quantity, the crossings are clogged 
up, and the freight depots crowded to their utmost 
capacity. And from present indications and future 
prospects, the freighting business may be enlarged almost 
indefinitely. Measures are already on foot for enlarging 
greatly these railroad accommodations in various direc- 
tions. 

Employment is furnished to vast numbers of teams in 
the oil country. From the region of Oil creek and the 
Allegheny alone, perhaps over one thousand horses are 
at all times busily employed. These teams draw the oil 
from the wells to the refiners, to the railroad depots, and 
24* 



282 ADVANTAGE TO VENANGO FARMERS. 

to the steamboat landings. The usual order is to load 
with empty barrels, or " emptys," as the oil men call 
them, at the depot, proceed to the wells, and return with 
a load of oil. In many cases there is an economical im- 
provement on this plan. In leaving Franklin. the team- 
sters purchase a load of coal from the coal men, who are 
thronging the streets with their wagons, place their 
"emptys" upon the top of this, and proceed to the oil 
wells. Here they dispose of their coal at a handsome 
profit, and re-load with oil. 

This is a matter of considerable importance to the 
farmers in Venango county. They are near the scene of 
labor, can often furnish their own subsistence for their 
teams, and make a clear profit of the greater portion of 
the receipts ; and, in addition, can choose their own 
time for active effort, and be on their farms when their 
presence is required there. Still the labor is not a 
pleasant one. Clothes saturated with ml, wagons broken 
and dismembered, harness and horses wearing out 
rapidly, and a general condition of dilapidation and 
decay belongs to the business. If the teamster receives 
good wages, his experience is not different from that of 
others, that there is another side to the account that 
must be considered in balancing the ledger. 

Still the discomforts in this business are not greater 
than in many other fields of labor, and it is perhaps 
more remunerative. And this labor is of various kinds. 
A great number of men are employed at the oil wells, in 
the active operations of boring and pumping. Laborers 
are required at the depots, in the cities, and around the 
wharves. A mighty army is engaged in all the pro- 
cesses of manufacturing the oil, and in preparing ma- 
chinery for the various operations connected with it. 



INFLUENCE ON THE WHALE FISHERY. 283 

Its influence is felt in every State and Territory of the 
Union, and in all the walks of life, in the matter of 
labor ; for, although it seems at first view, as we look at 
a flowing well that but little labor is necessary, yet as we 
follow its history from the time preparation is made for 
boring until the oil is consumed, we will see that a vast 
amount of labor is connected with it. 

Its influence in the Ocean trade has been felt perhaps 
in two ways. First, in lessening the amount and import- 
ance of the whale fishery ; second, in building up and 
enlarging a trade in carrying petroleum to foreign ports. 
The whale fishery has certainly declined rapidly during 
the last four or five years ; yet it is probable this is due in 
part at least to causes outside of the oil business. From 
constant pursuit the whales had been driven to high 
Northern latitudes, as well as decreased in numbers, so 
that of late years the same success had not attended the 
efforts of the whaling fleet, that had characterized it in 
former years. " The diminution of the whaling fleet," 
says the New Bedford Standard, "has continued the past 
year, but the decrease is small compared with previous 
years, and we hope has now reached its minimum. The 
decrease for the year has been twenty-eight vessels, with 
a tonnage of eight thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
two, In 1846 the tonnage engaged in this fishery was 
two hundred and thirty-two thousand two hundred 
and eighteen; now it is only fifty-nine thousand nine 
hundred and two. In 1843 sperm oil sold for sixty- 
three cents per gallon, in 1864 for one dollar and ninety- 
tv;o cents. In 1831 whale oil sold for thirty and a half 
cents ; now it sells for one dollar and twenty-eight cents. 
In 1841 whale-bone sold for nineteen cents per pound; 
now it sells for one dollar and eighty-two cents." 



284 INFLUENCE AT HOME. 

There can be no doubt, however, that apart from 
the scarcity of fish, the influence of the petroleum dis- 
coveries has affected the whale oil trade, by bringing 
into competition with it a fluid that answers a better 
purpose in many respects, and is afforded at a much 
lower price. In fact, many of the old whalemen have 
thrown aside the tarpaulin and harpoon, and have en- 
tered upon the business of selecting sites and locating 
wells with as much avidity as ever they pursued the 
monsters of the deep ; and have expressed themselves 
as well pleased with the exchange both as regards com- 
fort in pursuit, and profit in the final result. And 
although the amount of tonnage employed in the petro- 
leum trade may never equal that formerly engaged in 
the whale fishery, yet that which is employed will un- 
doubtedly accomplish more; as a whale ship was often 
from twenty months to three years in bringing a cargo 
into port, while a petroleum ship would make a voyage 
to Europe and return in a few weeks. 

The influence of this trade is felt at home. Not 
only are the comforts of its production felt in the imme- 
diate region of the oil valleys, but in every nook and 
corner of our wide land. The lamp filled with petro- 
leum is found burning in every cottage and log cabin 
from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. By its grateful 
light the humble artizan and the poor sewing-woman 
carry on their toilsome avocations, grateful for the illu- 
minating powers, and the comparative cheapness of this 
providential gift. And in every part of the land, energy 
has been quickened, industry stimulated, and genius and 
talent called out in the various processes that pertain to 
developing wells, producing oil, and extracting from it 
the various substances that add to the comforts and 



THE OIL MAN. 285 

enjoyment of society. Even in the dreary season of 
winter the frost and snow have interposed no barrier 
to its production. Eager crowds throng the public con- 
veyances that move to and from the oil valleys. The 
streets and hotels in the oil region are full to overflow- 
ing, and the bustle and stir surpass that of California in 
its most palmy days. Earnest, eager looking men are 
seen everywhere with the peculiar appearance that char- 
acterizes the " oil man;" short coat of peculiar cut, waist 
extravagantly long, and skirt infinitessimally short ; 
smallest possible hat; tall boots, with little appearance 
of pantaloons; bundle of papers in breast pocket, and 
sectional map in hand supposed to represent " valuable 
oil territory," from which a fortune is to be extracted 
either by pumping it from the earth, or by selling it to 
some other aspirant for the favors of fickle fortune. 
But fortune is not supposed to be fickle in these regions. 
She is supposed to have taken the bandage from her 
eyes, and to be gracious to all comers, rewarding all who 
approach her in the oil garb with untold wealth ; regard- 
less of the experience of multitudes who walked these 
valleys three or four years ago, and have left their der- 
ricks behind them as monuments of their disappointed 
hopes. 

Its importance is seen in the altered condition of very 
many in the oil region and beyond who have come within 
the sphere of its influence. Many have become suddenly 
and immensely wealthy, who were formerly in very 
straitened circumstances. Plain farmers have become 
millionaires ; men whose incomes were half a dollar per 
day a few years ago now have an income of five thou- 
sand per day. Still in very few instances has this sudden 
wealth appeared to have an injurious influence upon its 



Zbb INFLUENCE ABROAD. 

possessor. In a very few cases it has dazzled, and 
blinded, and blighted all the better feelings of the heart, 
but generally it has not, apparently at least, led to dissi- 
pation, vice, and ruin. On the contrary, in very many 
noble instances it has had a happy effect in inducing to 
benevolent works, to acts of kindness, and to labors of 
love and sympathy. 

In other lands the influence of this trade has been 
very great. It is bidding fair to revolutionize the habits, 
and change the associations of the people as it has 
already done here. The old tallow candle, and the well 
nigh fossilized oil lamp, will soon disappear as the petro- 
leum lamp is introduced, and throws them into the 
shadow. The statistics connected with the exportation 
of petroleum indicate, in some degree, the estimate that 
is placed on this commodity in almost every country in 
Europe, Asia, and South America. And there can be 
no question but that in proportion as its value becomes 
known abroad the demand for it will increase in a regular 
ratio. It may, however, be discovered in many countries 
where it is now imported, still the geological features of 
many of the principal points of export would naturally 
preclude the idea of its discovery or production. 

The influence of the export trade is felt in a marked 
degree in regulating the balance of trade with foreign 
countries. Our imports, either from necessity or choice, 
are very large, especially from England and France. 
During the past year, 1864, there were exported to Eng- 
land upwards of eleven and a quarter millions of gallons 
and to France over four and a half millions of gallons, 
affording this country advantage to this amount over our 
exports of other commodities during previous years, or 
before this trade commenced. This influence has been 



NATIONAL RELIEF. 287 

most beneficial to our trade during the disturbance in our 
pecuniary affairs for the last few years, and we may rea- 
sonably expect that for years to come we may depend 
upon petroleum to supplement our other exports and 
thus prevent the drainage of the precious metals from 
our coffers. 

A wise and benignant Providence is hereby providing 
for our national affliction. When any part of the body 
is wounded or receives injury, nature appears to turn all 
her resources to the healing of the wound, and the 
recovery from the injury. New resources even, are 
opened up exactly adapted to meet the emergency and 
to obviate the difficulty. The flesh is no sooner cut or 
bruised than the body begins to secrete a substance that 
tends to heal the cut, or throw off the damaged flesh 
preparatory to the healing process. So it has been in 
our National history during the past four or fLYe years. 
A gigantic war has been crippling the energies of the 
people, and taxing to its utmost all the resources of the 
nation. The country has been torn, and although not 
prostrate, trembles under its exertion, and bleeds under 
its wounds. The rock opens its bosom, and rivers of oil 
are poured forth in the very time of our sore visitation. 
To the reflecting eye God's hand is as visible here as it 
was when Moses smote the rock in the wilderness to save 
Israel from dying with thirst. The rod of the Hebrew 
prophet smote the rock, yet it was Providence that fur- 
nished the supply ; and now although multitudes of 
eager men are smiting the rocks, many of them careless 
of the operations of his Providence, yet it is the same 
unseen, beneficent hand that brings the oil from its secret 
cavities, that brought the water to Israel in the time of 
sore need. And this oil in its proceeds finds its way, by 



288 LARGE TAX RETURNS. 

numerous channels, into the public treasury. Sometimes 
it is in the form of direct tax upon the oil itself, some- 
times in tax on incomes, and very largely in stamps, 
that are used in all the transactions connected with the 
business. 

The tax on refined oil is at present eight dollars per 
barrel, or twenty cents per gallon. Some of our refiners 
are paying, when in full operation, from twelve to fifteen 
hundred dollars per day, bringing an aggregate of about 
one million of dollars into the national treasury. The 
present tax on crude oil will yield some two millions 
more. Transactions in leases and purchases are, and 
have been, very heavy in Venango county. The busi- 
ness in the registry office has become enormous, occupy- 
ing generally some nine or ten clerks, and these scarcely 
able to keep abreast of the business. On some of these, 
stamps to the amount of twelve hundred dollars have 
. been placed, and on smaller transactions innumerable, 
that never resulted in any thing to those engaged in 
them, such as articles of agreement, " refusals," and such 
like, stamps of greater or less value have been placed. 

In many portions of the oil territory, as well aa 
in other places where fortunes have been amassed 
through the oil business, the income tax has been enor- 
mous even under the modest returns that are too often 
rendered to the officials appointed to receive them. And 
these taxes are increasing rather than diminishing. Nor 
are they particularly burdensome to any class of the 
community. As far as the tax on 'refined oil is concerned, 
although it comes from the consumer, yet the article with 
the tax is more satisfactory and economical than any 
other illuminator that has been tested. Stamp taxes are 
almost invariably paid by those who are able to pay 



FUTUKE PROSPECTS. 289 

them without oppression, and income taxes belong only 
to those who have an income enabling them to bear their 
part in the common burden. 

We cannot well conceive how the affairs of the Go- 
vernment could have been carried on without this trea- 
sure in the rock ; but we may admire the medium of the 
great Provider, in laymg it by against our time of need, 
and bringing it forth just at the proper time. 

And since these troublous days are over, and the sword 
is sheathed to rust away in its scabbard — since the storm 
has ceased, the gale quieted, and we are called upon 
to take an observation, and compute our latitude and 
longitude, this very trade that is so flourishing in our 
midst may be the means of guiding us safely into port. 
We have a national debt that is already enormous — a 
debt that may well frighten even cool heads and well- 
balanced nerves, as it is contemplated in the future. But 
with this trade growing strong in our midst, drawing our 
resources from the earth with comparatively little ex- 
pense, and sending it to the four quarters of the globe, 
and to the islands of the ocean, and thus laying contri- 
butions upon the nations of the earth, we may well ex- 
pect to pay off our national debt, and still leave the 
balance of trade in our favor. 

Here, then, is the provision that Providence has made 
for our time of great need. Here is the exertion that 
kindly nature is putting forth to heal our wounds and to 
restore the injuries that we are receiving in this the time 
of our nation's awful peril. 

The history of the oil region would not be completed 

without a brief reference to the great flood of March, 

1865. This deluge, unexampled in modern times, was 

attended by great disaster and loss of property through- 

25 



290 flood of 1865. 

out the entire oil country. It was the result of a rapid 
melting of snow, accompanied by a heavy rain. The 
sn#w had fallen in considerable quantities at the head 
waters of the Allegheny and French creek, as well as of 
the smaller tributaries that pertain to these streams. On 
the 16th of March the rain poured down in torrents 
nearly the whole day. It was noTthe ordinary, gradual 
rain of the spring time, but seemed at times as though 
the clouds were rent asunder, and the water was precipi- 
tated in sheets upon the earth. The waters of French 
creek and the Allegheny began to rise on the afternoon 
of that day, but no particular damage was anticipated. 
But the floods arose during the night with frightful ra- 
pidity, and families near the streams found their dwell- 
ings invaded, and were obliged to seek a shelter higher 
up the banks. 

On the morning of the 17th the view of French creek 
and the Allegheny was absolutely frightful. The current 
was sweeping wildly beyond its usual banks, bearing the 
evidence of devastation and ruin upon its bosom. Espe- 
cially was this the case on the Allegheny. It seemed as 
though the entire oil region must be a scene of ruin. 
Houses, engine shanties, derricks, oil tanks, bull-wheels, 
barrels, all in dire confusion, where whirling down the 
current. Lumber, staves, farming and teaming utensils, 
all assisted in swelling the mighty^ tide of destruction. 
Some fifty houses passed down in the course of the fore- 
noon, some of them rude cabins, and others with shingled 
roofs. The whole bosom of the river was thickly dotted 
with oil barrels, some of them filled, but more empty 
during the space of twelve or fifteen hours. Even the 
heavy portable engines were removed from their position, 
forced into the river, and swept downwards by the resist- 



GREAT DEVASTATION. 291 

less current. A few of the houses were swept away 
during the night, and the tenants were awaked to find 
themselves tossed about, the sport of the wild waters. 
These were generally removed by means of boats, al- 
though there was some loss of life. 

The lower bridge at Franklin, that spans French creek, 
was lifted from its piers in two sections, and borne down 
to be dashed against the suspension bridge across the 
Allegheny. The recoil was dreadful, yet, although the 
frame and roof of the floating structure were dashed to 
fragments, the damage to the suspension bridge was but 
trifling. The Oil Greek bridge came down almost entire, 
and passed under the suspension without interference. 
Sugar Creek bridge also came down early in the day or 
morning. 

The entire valleys of many of the streams were swept 
clear of everything pertaining to oil operations — engines, 
derricks, tanks filled with oil, barrels empty and filled, 
houses, offices, all were completely swept away, leaving 
scarcely a trace behind. 

Oil City was completely inundated. The principal 
street was covered with water to the depth of several 
feet. Families retreated up the steep bank, and fires 
were kindled to secure comfort during the night and part 
of the day = 

Franklin did not suffer so much, being situated on 
higher ground. Still, the street nearest to the creek and 
river was completely inundated, and some families were 
removed from their dwellings in boats. 

The probabilities are, that such a flood was never 
known in these valleys before. Citizens who have re- 
sided here nearly seventy years testify that during that 
period no such flood has been experienced, that of 1806 



292 BUSINESS REVIVING. 

not reaching to anything like the dimensions of the 
present. 

The railroad was swept away, and the damage sus- 
tained in the oil operations of the county can only be 
computed when the flood has completely subsided, and a 
careful survey taken of the field. When fully summed 
up it will reach the amount of many millions of dollars. 
Besides the actual loss of oil and machinery, the proba- 
bilities are that the wells themselves have suffered severe- 
ly from filling up with sand and mud, causing great delay 
in resuming operations, and, probably, fatal damage 
through the filling up of the smaller oil veins. 

There is a lull in the rush and hurry of business, yet 
it will be but temporary, and, perhaps, the activity will 
increase from the temporary suspension. Still gloom 
rests upon many hearts as they see the labor of months 
swept away in a single night. Yet such an inundation 
may not occur again during the next century, and the 
probabilities are, that business will go on as before on 
the islands and low grounds, wherever a site can be 
found or an oil well located, and take the risks of the 
rain and snow and floods. 



CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 293 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 



In reviewing the great blessings that have come to us 
in these last days, w e should remember that the trea- 
sures of the earth belong to the Lord. Even the small 
things of earth are great in His sight, who takes in all 
things at a glance. The same hand that decks the hea- 
vens with their gorgeous jewelry, paints the wing of the 
little insect that is crushed beneath the tread of the way- 
farer, and that at test runs its brief race in a day. The 
same ear listens alike to the sparrow's morning song, and 
to the mighty peal of angelic harps that is eternally 
echoing from the " sea of glass," spread out around the 
eternal throne. So the same hand that at first scooped 
out the channel for the ocean's bed, and reared up the 
mighty, rock-ribbed mountains of earth, made the earth's 
bosom the repository for the minerals necessary to man's 
comfort, and cut out through secret channels in the living 
rock a pathway for the oil, that he might have where- 
with to supply the demands of science, of trade, of utility, 
and even of luxury. The same wisdom is seen in the 
small things as in the more important, as we estimate 
them. If the firmament showeth His handiwork, we see 
it in the germination of the grain, in the budding of the 
blossom, in which is wrapped up the embryo fruit, in 
25* 



294 " CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 

the opening of the fountains of water, in the storing up 
the minerals in their mines, and in burying in the flinty 
rock the rich wealth of oil. 

These gifts should be enjoyed with gratitude. If 
wealth has come to us almost unsought, the great Giver 
should be remembered with gratitude. A higher autho- 
rity than that of earth has assured us that " every good 
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh 
down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no 
variableness, neither shadow of turning." Neither hu- 
man foresight, nor strong muscle, nor golden coins, nor 
the perfection of machinery can claim the credit of this 
vast wealth. Wisdom and power placed it in the rock, 
and neither man's reason, nor wisdom, nor cunning could 
reach it until the appointed time had arrived. If it is 
given freely, with little labor, the grounds of gratitude 
are all the stronger that should influence the hearts of 
the recipients of this rich bounty. It is mainly because 
we will not hearken to Nature's persuasive voice within 
us, but stifle its low, sweet accents, that we take God's 
gifts as a matter of course, and enjoy them thankless, as 
though our own hand had prepared them, and our own 
heart devised them. If we would but listen to Nature's 
teaching, and to God's earnest voice, every whisper that 
Nature utters, and every precept of God's word, would 
impress upon us lessons of gratitude and thankfulness. 

These gifts should induce a liberal spirit. Men should 
consider themselves but stewards of Heaven's rich boun- 
ty, and the almoners of its gifts. If the great Benefactor 
intrusts us with much, He will require much at our 
hands. And it is a most blessed thing to be able to re- 
lieve want, to urge onward the great enterprises of the 
day, and to add our portion to the great Spiritual Tern- 



CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 295 

pie that the Eternal God is erecting, and that he will, 
ere long, make beautiful in the earth. Even in the mat- 
ter of common benevolence " it is more blessed to give 
than to receive." 

11 The quality of mercy is not strained : 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice bless'd ; 
It blesses him that gives and him that takes ; 
1 Tis mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown." 



INDEX. 





PAGE. 






PAGE. 


Acid in petroleum 


. 234 


Canal lock 


. 59 


Adjustment of engi 


ne . .111 


Cannel coal . 


. 65 


Esthetics 


. 221 


Capital represented 
Capital invested 


. 240 


Allegheny river 


. 200 


. 275 


Allegheny Valley ] 


railroad . 170 


Cary 


. 159 


Atlantic and Great 


Western RR.167 


Car load . 


. 169 


Ancient mention 


. 39 


Cases of conscience 


. 134 


Ancient extract 


. 214 


Cartwright 


. 39 


Ancient names 


. 21 


Caution as to stocks 


. 247 


Ancient testimony 


. 213 


Cavities, how formed 


. 255 


Ancient wells still 


productive 259 


Cavities, large, not tapp< 


id . 256 


Auger stem 


. 104 


Celeron . 


. 16 


Babel, tower of 


. 38 


Centre bit 




. 102 


Babylon . 


. 39 


Chart of distances 




. 37 


Barrels . 


. 280 


Chain gang 




. 107 


Base of hills . 


931 Change of hands 




. 171 


Benehoof-'s run 


. 194 


Chamber, copper 




. 127 


Benzine . 


. 220 


Chamber, iron 




. 128 


Bissell, George H. 


67. 72 


Chauvignerie . 




. 20 


Bit, breaking of 


. 119 


Cherry run 




. 191 


Bit. sharpening of 


. 114 


Cherry Tree run 




. 193 


Blower . 


. 136 


Chemicals 




. 228 


Blood farm 


.188 


Choice of site . 




. 84 


Blood farm register 


. 189 


Clamp 




. 106 


Boring tools . 


. 102 


Coal oil . 




65, 254 


Boring, mode of 


. 97 


Coal deposits 




. 251 


Boring, expense of 
Broadhorns . 


. 124 


Coffin's testimony , 




. 17 


. 162 


Coal inexhaustible 




. 258 


Brown & Mitchell 


. 198 


Collecting oil . 




. 56 


Brewer & Watson . 


. 198 


Coleman, J. H. 




. 198 


Bulk-boats 


. 163 


Colors from petroleum . 


. 222 


Bull-wheel 


. 101 


Comparative success 


. 190 


Bur m ah wells 


. 41 


Companies 


. 75 


Burning well . 


. 150 


Companies, worthless 


. 248 


Bye-laws, how pass* 


id . . 241 


Companies, not charterec 


I . 76 


Cable . 


. 101 


Companies, good work o 


f . 76 


Canal, Franklin Co 


. 33 


Companies, aifficulties of 


. 77 


(296) ^ 











INDEX. 



297 



Companies, large . 

Companies, joint stock 

Companies, number of stock 

Constellation of wells 

Conductor 

Cooperstown . 

Cornplanter . 

Cornplanter run 

Court, first 

Creek and river bottoms 

Culver, Hon. C. V, 

Curiosity, public 

Deer creek 

Depth of wells in Franklin 

Deodorizing . 

Derrick . 

Deepest well . 

Devonian age . 

Disinfectant . 

Dividends 

Diamond drill 

Drake, Col. E. L. 

Dream, of science 

Dry diggings . 

Dry wells 

Driving pipe . 

Du Caisne, Dr. 

Egbert Brothers 

Embalming 

English claim . 

English fort . 

Engine, portable 

Erie Indians . 

Eveleth & Bissell 

Evans' well 

Ewing . 

Excavation 

Exciting scene 

Exportation . 

Farmers wealthy 

Faults . 

Fire 

First oil well . 

First company in Franklii 

First refinery in Franklin 

First settlers . 



Flat-boats • . 
Flood, great . 
Flowing wells 
Flowing wells, 



PAGE. 

. 81 

. 236 

. 239 

. 186 

. 99 

. 181 

. 53 

. 194 

. 30 

. 90 

. 195 

. 122 

. 150 

. 175 



Flowing wells, history of 



PAGE. 



28 
. 190 

257, 265 
. 215 
. 247 
. 125 
. 65 
. 250 
. 186 
. 77 
99, 278 
. 217 
. 298 
. 40 
. 15 
. 19 
. 110 
. 12 
. 67 
. 174 
. 198 
. 99 
. 165 

271, 273 
. 83 



influence of 



Flowing wells, philosophy of 
Flowing wells, depth of . 



. 267 

. 152 

. 70 

. 75 

. 224 

. 28 

. 161 

289, 292 

. 141 

79 

144 

144 



Flowing wells, advantage of 
Flowing wells, permanent 
Flowing wells, closing of, dan 

gerous 
Fort Franklin 
Fort English . 
Fort Michault 
Fort Venango 
Franklin 

Franklin Canal Company 
Franklin and Jamestown R.R 
Franklin operations 
228; Freight by river 
French grapes 
French claim . 
French creek . 
French origin 
Frenchman's story 
Frost, great . 
Fuel 

Fuel, petroleum as 
Fuel, for steamers 
Gas 

Gas tongs 
Gas pipe 
Gas as fuel 
Gas from petroleum 
Great northern oil 
Gallissioniere* 
Gold fields . 
Gratitude 
Halderman, Dr. 
Hardships 
Hays, General S. 
Hazel rod 
Hemlock creek 
Hendrick lubricator 
Henry farm 
High lands 
History mysterious 
History of oil wells 
Hickory creeks 
Home consumption 
Horse creek . 
Horse power . 
Humboldt 
Illuminator . 
Important articles 
Indian origin 
Indian god 



147, 148 



152 
153 



153 
. 24 
, 19 
. 19 
17,19 
15,25 
. 22 
, 170 
. 173 
. 160 
. 20 
. 16 
22, 179 
. 49 
. 22 
. 35 
. 140 
. 219 
. 218 
. 117 
. 128 
. 136 
. 140 
. 219 
. 234 
. 16 
. 43 
. 294 
. 198 
. 29 
25,29 



. 204 

234, 235 

. 204 

. 92 

. 47 

147, 148 

. 205 

. 270 

. 201 

. 108 

42, 260 

. 211 

unfailing . 261 

. 50 

. 14 



company 



298 



INDEX. 





PAGE. 








PAGE. 


Indian traditions . 


. 198, 209 


Oil, waste of . , 


. 149 


Intermittent wells • 


. 156 


Old cannon . 


. 23 


Iron business . 


30, 33 


Old garrison . 


. 25 


Irrawaddy . . 


. 260 


Olmstead, Dr. L. G. 


. 41 


Islands . 


. 208 


Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co 


. 68 


Jail, first 


. 30 


Paleontology . 251, 


252, 263 


Jars 


. 105 


Patchell's run 


. 180 


Kicking . 


. 107 


Petroleum, origin of 


. 248 


Ladder floats . 


. 163 


Petroleum Centre . 


. 27 


Lamps . 


. 279 


Petroleum, names of 


• 38 


Large companies . 


. 81 


Permanence of supply . 


. 258 


Latonia . 


. 196 


Physician young . 


. 63 


Laws of Pennsylvania . 


240, 242 


Pit Hole 


55,92 


Laws of New York 


. 243 


Plumerville . 


. 192 


Layard . 


. 40 


Population of Venango county 27 


Leases . 


. 73 


Pond freshet . 


. 164 


Liability of stockholder* 


J . 242 


Practical operation of compa- 


Liberality 


. 294 


nies 


. 244 


Loss of life 


. 151 


Prentice, Clark & Seely 


. 198 


Lower Allegheny . 


. 257 


Present aspect 


. 276 


Low lands . • 


. 90 


President . . , 


. 204 


Lubricator 


. 213 


Prices of lands 


. 82 


Lumber trade 


. 35 


Products in refining 


. 225 


Manufactures 


. 278 


Prophet Wangomen 


. 20 


Market, direction of 


- 170 


Power .... 


. 106 


McDowell, Colonel A. . 


. 29 


Powers, George, anecdote of . 28 


McClintockville 


. 27 


Pump barrel . 


. 130 


Medical agent 


. 213 


Pumping 




126 


Mill creek 


. 180 


Qualities of oil 




! 257 


Mission to Venango coui 


lty . 20 


Railroads 




. 251 


Mode of working . 


. 112 


Ravines . 




. 86 


Montcalm's letter . 


. 52 


Reamer . 




. 103 


Mound builders 


. 55 


Reed well 




. 192 


Muddy oil 


. 137 


Refining, mode of 




. 226 


Mud vein 


• 118 


Refusals . 




. 82 


National debt . 


. 289 


Register in boring 




. 118 


Nature's mysteries. 


' 249 


Register on Blood farm . 


. 189 


Navy experiments . 


. 218 


Register on Allegheny . 


. 204 


Ocean trade . 


. 283 


Region explored 


. 94 


Oil basin 


. 2091 Regularity in pumping . 


. 135 


Oil City . 


29, 195; Rods, boring . 


. 102 


Oil collected . 


. 232 i Rock, how formed 




. 254 


Oil companies 
Oil creek 


. 197 


R,ock samples. 




. 204 


. 183 


Rope socket 






. 105 


Oil creek, features of 


. 185 


Rotten-stone 






. 234 


Oil creek, name 


. 184 


Rouse, H. R. 






. 151 


Oil Creek railroad . 


. 169 


Rouseville 






27, 193 


Oil excitement 


. 72 


Salt well 






. 58 


Oil first shipped . • 


. 57 


Sand pump 






. 113 


Oil man . 


. 255 


Seed bag 






. 129 


Oil pits, ancient 


15, 46 


Separating oil and water 


. 139 


Oil still forming 


264, 266 


Sharp practice 


. 


• 


. 58 






INDEX. 



299 









PAGE. 


Show of oil . . . . 117 


Shippen well . 




182 


Shrieve, Brough & Co. 




198 


Siddim . 




3S 


Simonds, Joseph H. & C 


D. 


36 


Silliman, Professor 




68 


Silliman's report- . 




228 


Sinker bar 






, 105 


Six Nations . 






13 


Singular bulletin 






123 


Soap 






216 


Spirits . 






. 88 


Spring-pole . 






106 


Stamps . 






2Si 


Streams . 






27 


Steam engine . 






108 


Sub-leasing . 






75 


Sugar creek . 






180 


Sunday well . 






158 


Supply varies 






268 


Surface appearances 




85 


Surrender of charter 


241 


Table of exports 


271, 273 


Tanks . 




. 138 


Tanning . 




. 220 


Tax on refined oil . 




. 288 


Tax on crude oil 




. 2S8 


Tax, income . 




. 288 


Teams . 


- , 


. 281 


Temper screw 




. 105 


Tempering bits 




. 115 


Testing wells . 




. 130 


Testimony of the rocks . 


. 250 


Texas Oil 


. .42 


Thoughts concludin 


g - 


29 


3,295 



| Tideoute . 

• Tionesta. 
Tin v . 
Toradakoin 

• Tools, weight of 
, Tools, detached 
; Tools, fast in well 

Towns 

Towns on Oil creek, 

Trade, balance of 

Trade, growth of 

Trade, the home 

Transportation 

Trees in oil pits 
■ Tubing . 
, Tubing, cost of 

Two-mile run 

Upheaval 
\ Uses of petroleum 

Utica 

| Venango fort . 
! Venango county described 
'Washington visits Venango 

Washington's Journal 

Water in wells 
i Water veins passed 

Water, proportion of 
j Worthless companies 
I We thee, Professor 
I Wells interfere 

Well in Franklin 

Whale fishery 

Yagawannea . 

Z bit . 



PAGE. 

. 206 

. 205 

. 262 

. 21 

. 106 

. 120 

. 120 

. 27 

. 197 

. 286 

. 269 

. 281 

. 159 

, 48 

. 127 

. 138 

. 201 

, 191 

, 210 

. 180 
19 



17 



26 

18 

18 

115 

116 

131 

218 

212 

, 133 

59 

283 

12 

124 



THE END. 



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